ACB Crackdown: 7 Officials Including Patwaris Held in One Month | Kashmir Life

SRINAGAR: Amid an intensified government crackdown on corruption and disproportionate assets, anti-corruption agencies in Jammu and Kashmir have arrested at least seven government officials, including four Patwaris of the Revenue Department, over the past month, officials said. The sustained action has drawn widespread public appreciation, with growing demands for attachment and confiscation of illegal properties amassed by corrupt officials.

On December 20, the Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested a Patwari, Ashiq Hussain Shah, a resident of Tarkawangam in Shopian district, red-handed while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 25,000 at Panjura, Shopian. FIR No. 5 of 2025 under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 was registered against him and investigation was taken up. Following his arrest, the ACB conducted a search at his residence in the presence of an Executive Magistrate and independent witnesses. Officials said the scope of the probe has since been widened to trace assets allegedly disproportionate to his known sources of income, including properties held in the names of his close relatives.

On December 26, the ACB arrested Manzoor Ahmad Ahangar, a clerk in the Rural Development Department, Rural Engineering Wing, Anantnag, while allegedly accepting a bribe. A case under FIR No. 06 of 2025 under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 was registered.

On January 3, the ACB team caught Layik Ahmad Nath, a clerk posted at the Tehsil Office Shalteng in Srinagar, while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 2,000. FIR No. 01 of 2026 under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 was registered in the matter.

Continuing the drive, on January 6, the ACB arrested Patwari Pradhan Singh of Ladha Tehsil, Mongri, in Udhampur district, for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000. An FIR under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 was registered.

On January 10, the ACB arrested another Patwari, Riaz Ahmed Khan of Rakhsotho area in Budgam district, while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000. FIR No. 02 of 2026 under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 was registered against him.

In a separate case, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested a Patwari and a Chowkidar posted in the Soufshali constituency of Kokarnag in Anantnag district in connection with a bribe case involving Rs 15,000.

The series of arrests has triggered strong public reaction, particularly in south Kashmir, where people have demanded strict action against corrupt officials, including dismissal from service and confiscation of illegally acquired assets. [KNT]