Four government officials booked for corruption in J&K

The State Vigilance Organisation today registered two separate corruption cases against four officials of J&K horticulture department for allegedly misappropriating Rs6.33 lakhs, a vigilance spokesman said here.

It is alleged that Ghulam Mohammad Gojri, Horticulture development Officer (HDO) and Ghulam-ud-Din, a technician, prepared a fake list of beneficiaries requiring apple sampling and barbed wire at Block Hajin in Baramulla district in 2006-07.

Gojri sent the forged list to the chief horticulture officer for obtaining the approval for executing the work. However, it was established that the list was grossly exaggerated and the department was fleeced of Rs2,85,000.

A similar modus operandi was adopted in the year 2007-08 by two other public servants--Ghulam Rasool Khan, HDO and Mukhtar Ahmed, a technician of the same block who misappropriated Rs3,48,000.