Srinagar, Jan 11: A day after Greater Kashmir exposed a scam worth millions of rupees in the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, the SMC officials confirmed the fraud adding that they had been investigating the case since September last year.
 The officials said they were waiting for the “right moment” to apprize the media about the issue but that the GK report published on the City Page Wednesday prompted them to “pre-pone the plans”.
 Laced with a pile of official documents, copies of which were distributed among the media persons, the SMC Commissioner Sheikh Mushtaq tried to put forth his viewpoint in black-and- white, a move being seen as a first of its kind response from the civic body, established in 1876.
 He said the accused employees haven’t been suspended but even chargesheeted under the service norms. “Suspension without chargesheeted is bad in norms,” he added.

THE ACCUSED
 The SMC identified the accused as Basharat Ahmed(Senior Assistant), Khurshid Ahmed (Junior Assistant), Javaid Ahmed Sheikh(Junior Assistant), Muhammad Hussain (Class IV), Lassa Sheikh and Reyaz Sheikh(as SafaiWalas) adding all of them have been placed under suspension.
 The consolidated services of Feroz Ahmed Sheikh and Fayaz Ahmed Sheikh(Consolidated Safaiwalas), the SMC Commissioner said, have been terminated.
 All of them are accused of duping their colleagues by diverting GP Fund into fictitious accounts, which would subsequently be diverted to the accounts of the accused making them have millions of rupees as bank balance.

THE FRAUD
 “Totality of the scam is fraudulent withdrawal of GP Funds… That is the quantum of guilt,” the Commissioner told the media persons.
 He, however, said that the concerned JK Bank Manager of Balgarden branch, Muhammad Muzaffar Makhdoomi didn’t play any whistleblower but that the civic body had already been probing the matter since September last year when first such complaint came their way.
 “We came across first such complaint way back in September when a retired Safaiwala told us that he was yet to get GP fund even after two years of retirement… This was when we confidentially started the probe,” Muhstaq said.
 He said the bank authorities played their active role in finding the discrepancies in the bank accounts of the accused.
 “If somebody has any amount in his or her bank account, it cannot be in our knowledge… This is not my baby but the baby of the bank,” the Commissioner explained.
 He, however, said his personal rapport with the Manager, did help in quick action as the accounts of the accused were freezed in no time. Pertinently the duo was felicitated with Gold Medals for honesty by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in 2010.

THE QUICK PROBE   
 The Commissioner said after getting intimation about the discrepancies in the bank accounts of the SMC employees, an inquiry committee headed by Joint Commissioner Fayaz Ahmed Bala tabled its report within two days.

DETAILED PROBE STARTS 
 “The committee has sought tine for detailed inquiry into the matter so that   quantum of irregularities and frauds are established and all the persons involved in such irregularities and frauds are identified,” the Commissioner said.
 He said once the report is tabled action as per law would be initiated against the accused through “competent agency/authority (Crime Branch/Vigilance.”
 The case will reach this stage by 10-15 days, the Commissioner flanked by Joint Commissioner, Fayaz Ahmed Bala said.

‘WILL TAKE IT TO LOGICAL CONCLUSION’
 Responding to media queries if the civic body was under political pressures to hush up the case, the officials said there was no such issue.
 “No person on this Earth will pressurize me from taking this(case) to its logical conclusion…Calling me Tees Maar Khan will be understatement and overstatement,” Mushtaq told the crowded news conference.

NO AUDIT SINCE 2006
 He admitted that no audit has taken place in the civic body since 2006. “I have written to the concerned quarters to get the audit done at an earliest,” Mushtaq said.

THE DUPING
 Citing examples, the SMC officials said, the accused would dupe poor Safaiwalas of their genuine GP Fund by giving them a small portion of the money while the lion’s share would be transferred into fictitious accounts.
 “The poor victims being illiterate were made to put their thumb impressions on the receipts of big amounts, which they didn’t get in actuality,” the Commissioner said.
 About the accused, he said one of them had been placed under suspension some eight years back when a case against him was referred to the Crime Branch.
 “We wonder as to what must have happened to the letter shot to the Crime Branch office. Did it reach there or vanish midway?” he argued.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 IST