Anti-corruption bureau arrests Srinagar’s former deputy mayor
SRINAGAR: Former deputy mayor of Srinagar Municipal Corporation Sheikh Imran was on Friday arrested by the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) in a case pertaining to “misappropriation” of crores of rupees from the Jammu and Kashmir Bank.
Imran, who was removed as deputy mayor after a no-confidence motion against him on Thursday, will be questioned in connection with illegal appropriation of subsidy given to his company.
SRINAGAR: Former deputy mayor of Srinagar municipal corporation Sheikh Imran was on Friday arrested by the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) for allegedly bungling funds.
Imran, was under preventive dentition since August 5 and was formally arrested a day after he was removed as deputy mayor as he failed a floor test in the Srinagar municipal corporation.
Imran was taken into custody by the ACB for questioning in connection with illegal appropriation of subsidy given to his company for setting up of a Controlled Atmosphere (CA) store, officials said. ACB in a statement said, “A case has been registered against Sheikh Imran, the director Kehwa Private Square Limited, J&K Bank officers and other government officials, for illegal appropriation of subsidy with inflated project cost for establishing a CA Storage at Lasipora, Pulwama.”“Further, the Kehwa group received a loan of ₹138 crore from J&K Bank restructured nearly ₹78 crore under a conspiracy hatched by Sheikh Imran and partners of Kehwa Limited along with J&K Bank officials,” the statement said, adding that Imran had been taken into custody by ACB, Srinagar, for further questioning.” The ACB investigation revealed that a large loan, which was meant for the construction of the store, was diverted.The case is under investigation .A joint inspection team of various experts and government officials conducted an inspection of the site and assessed the cost of the project to ₹33 crore, spokesperson said.The subsidy component was calculated at ₹16.50 crore -- 50 per cent of the estimated project cost (EPC) -purportedly as per norms of the Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayan (HMNEH) states, he said. The proposal was approved by the empowered monitoring committee of the MIDH, the spokesman said.During inquiry, it also came to light that the Kehwa Group has six more business units and Imran raised varied loan facilities and overdrafts for these units, the ACB alleged.