Srinagar, July 26: A high ranking official in the Handloom Development Department (HDD) has been placed under suspension on charges of making “fraudulent drawals”, amounting to Rs 30 lakh.
According to a government order No. 120-IND of 2010 dated 19.07.2010, “pending inquiry in to the fraudulent drawals in District Pulwama, Shri (sic) Abdul Haleem Lone, Assistant Director, Handloom Development Department, Budgam is hereby placed under suspension with immediate effect and attached with the office of the Joint Director, Handloom Development Department, Kashmir.”
The order, a copy of which is with Greater Kashmir, has been issued after the director HDD found excess salary being drawn against the employees in Pulwama. This, the sources said, forced the director to write to the administrative department to initiate necessary action in the case.
Sources said the scam dates back to 2006 when an employee was asked to do the job of a “cashier” as the then cashier had gone on one-month leave. “The then authorities in the HDD Pulwama asked the employee to do as directed. Apparently unaware of the nitty-gritty of the issue, the employee withdrew excess salary bills,” they said.
When the actual cashier returned from leave, he was not allowed to take the charge and instead, the orderly was asked to continue as cashier.
In 2007, Abdul Haleem Lone was asked to take the charge of HDD Pulwama. Lone, according to sources, didn’t relieve the employee and “recommended his promotion as in-charge, Training Centre” to the administrative department. Lone continued in the department for over two years, during which the “excess bills continued to be withdrawn.”
In April 2010, the new director took the charge of HDD Pulwama. On examination, the sources said, he found excess billing of Rs 80,000 in the monthly salary of employees. Sensing fraud, the officer referred the case to the Industries and Commerce Department (ICD), under which the HDD functions, for further necessary action.
A departmental inquiry into the case established that the excess money of over Rs 28 lakh had been withdrawn against the salaries since 2006.
While the ICD ordered suspension of Lone, the matter is yet to be handed over to the Crime Branch or Vigilance Organization. This, the sources said, is being done to save the “tainted officers” allegedly involved in the scam.
So far, the sources said, the ICD was yet to lodge FIR in the case, much to the annoyance of the HDD employees who accuse the government of trying to hush up the case.
Sources said the “Drawal Register” where the entries of salaries are made is missing in the HDD Pulwama. The Register contains the details of the salaries withdrawn since 2006.
“By now the matter should have been handed over to the Crime Branch or Vigilance Organization for investigation. But it is unfortunate that the government is trying to shield the culprits involved in the embezzlement of so many lakhs of rupees,” said the HDD insiders.
The excess money, the sources said, was withdrawn either through a cheque or through payment against a fake account in a bank.
When contacted the Director, Handlooms, J&K, Chandra Gupta said the government had ordered a special audit of the HDD Pulwama to establish the facts. “The Department has gone for special audit and the members are going to give us the report within few days. We were supposed to handover to the Crime Branch, but then we thought that if we do so, they will take away all the records, and take time. So ordered a special audit on how much the embezzlement is. Thereafter we will see what can be done,” she told Greater Kashmir.
She said despite the prevailing situation in the Valley, the Department ordered the audit to establish the facts. “The guilty would be punished. There is no point shielding the culprits,” Chandra said.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 IST