Jammu, October 16
Can one imagine a girdwar, who is at the bottom of the hierarchy of the Revenue Department, amassing ill-gotten wealth of over Rs 1 crore within a short span of his service.

Yes, this is one of the few successful catches of the Vigilance Bureau when they caught a girdawar of Udhampur district in its net who allegedly possessed disproportionate assets to the tune of nearly Rs 1.4 crore.

Such instances of corruption have shaken the confidence of the common man in the government.

But now, in a bid to tackle corruption and wipe the stigma of Jammu and Kashmir being the second most corrupt state in the country, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has instructed the vigilance Bureau to make time bound investigations so that corrupt officials can be weeded out.

Mr Azad, who will be completing one year in office in the next few days, had launched a crusade against corruption immediately after taking over the reins of the government.

Positive results have started coming in as 11 officers with moveable and immovable assets worth over Rs 10 crore are in the net of the Vigilance Bureau. Besides, 82 cases of corruption have been registered during the past 11 months.

These include 52 cases in the Kashmir valley and 30 in Jammu.

According to official figures, public servants in 45 cases were caught red handed while accepting bribe.

What Mr Azad instructed the Vigilance Bureau to do was to move out of the urban areas and effectively spread its operations in the rural areas where the poor people were being exploited by corrupt officials. This has yielded results and as many as 50 cases of corruption have been registered in the districts of Rajouri, Sopore, Handwara, Kupwara, Anantnag and Pulwama.

Due to his motivation, the mindset of the sleuths of the Vigilance Bureau has started changing and they have speeded up investigation of cases that in the past remained pending for years together. A case of a public servant, who was caught red handed taking bribe, was presented in the court within one month. Of the 65 cases registered last year, investigation of 42 cases has been completed and 24 of these have been challaned in the court.

The time in granting sanction to prosecute officials has also been cut and as many as 57 permissions have been accorded this year.

Srinagar, October 16
Senior separatist leader and president of the Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) Shabir Ahmad Shah was detained by the police with 10 party activists after he led a protest march in the city, in violation of prohibitory orders, demanding revocation of the death sentence of Mohammad Afzal Guru, convicted in the Parliament attack case.

The protesters, many of whom were wearing black gowns, were stopped by the police at Budshah Chowk in the heart of the city immediately after they started from nearby Gawkadal, official sources said.

Carrying placards, which read “do not hang Guru and Guru is innocent”, the protesters staged a sit-in, they said.

The sources said Shah and his 10 senior party activists, including general secretary Mohammad Abdullah Tari, were detained, while others were chased away by the police. — PTI