J-K police book nine in connection with land scam

The Jammu and Kashmir vigilance department has registered a case againt nine people, including a former revenue secretary and members of a trust run by the earstwhile royal Dogra family, in connection with a multicrore land scam, officials said today.

The department found that the Dharmarth Trust used a forged report and leased out a 75-acre government land to seven private businessmen at a cost of Rs 2.90 crore.

A case has been registered against Sachin Dev Singh, then assistant commissioner revenue, Jammu, other officials of the revenue department and members of the Dharmarth Trust.

They have been charged for corruption, forgery and criminal conspiracy, an official spokesman said.

Vigilance department officials carried out searches at several locations in Jammu and Rajouri and seized documents related to the case, the spokesman said.

Run by the erstwhile royal Dogra family, the Trust was founded in 1846 by Maharaja Gulab Singh to maintain temples and other properties associated with them in Kashmir, Jammu, Himachal Pardesh, Haridwar and Varanasi.