Minister, IGP among 50 VIPs accommodated by Hajeej

Owner of fraudulent travel agency arrested in Mumbai while boarding a Jeddah-bound flight

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Nov 4: Owner of a high profile travel agency has been arrested by J&K Police in Mumbai for cheating nearly 550 Kashmiri Hajj aspirants even as he has accommodated 50 VIPs, including a Cabinet Minister and an Inspector General of Police (IGP), and arranged their pilgrimage.

Informed sources revealed to Early Times that entire group of 50 VIPs from Kashmir boarded a Delhi-Mumbai-Jeddah flight SV-745 of Saudi Airlines on Wednesday last at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. Fugitive operator of the travel agency Hajeej, namely Arsalan Wahid Gilkar S/o Abdul Wahid Gilkar R/o Chandpora, Harwan, Srinagar, was also booked on the same flight from Mumbai to Jeddah. Since J&K Police had circulated a look out notice to all domestic and international airports in India last week, Arsalan was identified at immigration and customs check and handed over to SHO of Police Station Khanyar.

Fifty of the highly influential VIPS, whose pilgrimage had been arranged by Arsalan while cheating 550 ordinary Kashmiri Hajj aspirants, included senior Congress leader and Minister for Irrigation and PHE, Taj Mohiuddin, IGP Railways Farooq Ahmad and Additional Advocate General Ali Mohammad Magray. Sources said that the flight proceeded to Saudi Arabia as per its schedule and there was immediately no intervention to pre-empt Arsalan’s arrest. Two of the well-connected contacts of Arsalan, however, made unsuccessful attempts to rope in DGP Kuldeep Khoda and other senior functionaries of the state government.

Reports from Saudi Arabia said that the entire group of 50 VIP pilgrims, carried by Hajeej, landed in trouble when nobody from the company reported to provide the services promised. They later established contact with Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi which further managed their rapport with Consulate in Jeddah and the Indian Embassy in Riyadh with the direction that accommodation and traveling of the pilgrims be arranged on war footing basis as just few days were left to beginning of Hajj at Mecca.

Detainee Arsalan was brought back to Srinagar by a party of Police Station Khanyar on Thursday and immediately subjected to sustained interrogation. He is being interrogated as to how he cheated 550 Hajj aspirants and grabbed nearly Rs 11 Cr from them. Sources said that search was still underway for Arsalan’s brother, namely Fabyan Wahid Gilkar.

SSP Srinagar, Syed Ashiq Hussain Bukhari, confirmed Arsalan’s arrest as also the fact that he had grabbed a huge amount of Rs 11 Cr from nearly 550 Hajj aspirants. He said it was surprising even for Police that the company had been operating in Srinagar without being registered with Directorate of Tourism besides the Central Hajj Committee and union Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.

Quoting complaints of the cheated Hajj aspirants and the information subsequently gathered by Police, SSP said that Hajeej had collected Rs 2 Lakh each from 600 aspirants since last year for Hajj-2011. Even as Hajeej arranged visas, air tickets and other travel documents for 50 VIP aspirants, it failed to make similar promised arrangement for remaining 550 aspirants. Until last week, Hajeej continued to assure them that their visas and travel documents were being arranged. They accordingly completed all formalities, enjoyed invitations and made personal arrangements for the traveling for pilgrimage.

It was last week only that 550 aspirants learned that they had all been cheated by Hajeej. As the angry and outraged aspirants staged protest demonstrations and sit-in, Police Station Khanyar registered case FIR No: 58 of 2011 under sections 420 and 406 against the Hajeej operators. A Police party, headed by SHO Khanyar Inspector Raashid, flew all the way to Mumbai, circulated look out notices for the accused Arsalan and Fabyan and finally succeeded in detaining Arsalan at Mumbai International Airport.

SHO Khanyar, Inspector Raashid, said that Police obtained remand of nine days custodial interrogation from Second Additional Munsiff Srinagar on Thursday. He said that Police were looking for Fabyan and quizzing Arsalan how Hajeej had cheated 550 gullible Hajj aspirants and grabbed money worth Rs 11 Cr from them. He said that the money seemed to have been transferred to overseas accounts but the matter was still under investigation. According to him, Hajeej had been extensively projected by official electronic media and newspapers while operating from Rambagh, Srinagar, for five years before shifting office to Munnawwarabad, Khanyar, last year.

Enquiries made by Early Times revealed further that nearly 30 travel agencies, based in Kashmir valley, have been conducting package Umra and Hajj tours of aspirants. While as only nine of them are registered with the authorities, others have been operating illegally with the support of certain influential individuals---politicians, bureaucrats, Police officials etc. J&K State has got 8300 official Hajj seats this year as per its Muslim population plus a special quota.

In addition to that 250 seats have been allotted by MEA in favour of nine registered private travel agencies. Unregistered agencies have been illegally buying seats from Delhi and Mumbai-based authorized agencies and subsequently selling same to other groups who charge exorbitant rates from gullible Hajj aspirants.

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Why does NC’s bedfellow become gutter worm overnight?

Kamaal’s no-holds-barred continues against Congress; Soz takes matter to Delhi

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Nov 2: By all indications, maverick Mustafa Kamaal appears to be programmed by his party National Conference in his no-holds-barred tirade against Delhi, read Indian armed forces and the coalition partner Congress. While directly blaming Army for current spurt in grenade blasts, Dr Kamaal has gone unusually whole hog against the party that installed NC back into power in 2009. Significantly, his tantrums began within days of his induction as his party’s ‘only spokesman’ and additional General Secretary last fortnight.

If well placed political sources are to be believed, Jammu & Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief, Prof Saif-ud-din Soz, has now taken up the matter of Dr Kamaal’s virulent campaign against Congress---more significantly against Army---not only with the AICC leadership but also with two union Cabinet Ministers in New Delhi. Prof Soz, according to these sources, has carried with him press clippings Dr Kamaal’s statements made in the last one week. Soz is said to be gunning for Kamaal---telling Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s as well as the UPA Chairperson and AICC chief Sonia Gandhi’s confidantes in the party and the government that J&K Chief Minister’s uncle was fast emerging as a “security threat”.

Even as the NC President and the union Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah has been telling everybody around in New Delhi that Dr Kamaal would be pacified by the party in a couple of days, those conversant with his behaviour for decades are said to be highly skeptical. “Munna bhai lage raho” is reportedly the pat from the party. At least two of Soz loyalists, both Ministers in Omar Abdullah’s Cabinet, are understood to have sweared to AICC General Secretary incharge Jammu & Kashmir that NC’s enfant terrible had “full support” from key members of the Sheikh dynasty---Dr Farooq Abdullah, General Secretary Sheikh Nazir Ahmed and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Even after Dr Abdullah purportedly called his younger brother in the morning today and advised him against creating any space for Congress-PDP patch-up, Dr Kamaal continued to fire his salvos on Congress with total impunity. “Farooq sahib was angry with me. He spoke to me on phone and told me not to speak against Congress. But I have no hesitation in saying that Congress is a problem”, Dr Kamaal reportedly told Kashmir News Service.

In the same interview, Dr Kamaal dug into the roots of the NC-Congress bonhomie while disputing existence and authenticity of so-called Indira-Abdullah Accord of 1975. According to him, it was never inked as the Congress chief Indira Gandhi played tricks with Sheikh Abdullah. “If version of Congress is right on 1975 agreement then why then Chief Minister Mir Qasim wrote in his book that the exercise wasn’t complete. Sheik and Indira had nominated G Parthasarthy and Mirza Afzal Beg to look into those laws which were passed between 1953 to 1975 in violation of autonomy which J&K had. And they prepared a document on 86 laws out of 92. Rest of the five which included jurisdiction of Supreme Court, CAG, Election Commission, Wazeer-e-Azam and the Sader-e-Riyasat were left to Indira and Sheikh to decide,” he is quoted to have said.

“Sheikh smelt rat in it. He was supposed to go to Delhi but when he didn’t get the assurance he refused to sign the document. Let them (Congress) show me signatures of Indira and Sheikh on the 1975 accord,” he said. “They are insulting a political party which has been at forefront for the emancipation of people from 1938,” Dr Kamaal is reported to have assailed Congress.

Unfazed by the flak from several JKPCC and AICC leaders, Dr Kamaal continued to hold Army responsible for throwing grenades “so as to create an impression that militants were in place and AFSPA must not go”. A day after publicly castigating Prof Soz and Congress party’s Cabinet Minister in Omar Abdullah’s Council of Ministers, Taj Mohiuddin, Kamaal overtly charged Congress with impeding and denying autonomy to J&K. “They don’t seem to have reconciled to the tragedy which happened with people and NC from 1953 till date. They are trying to erase the history. It will haunt them today and tomorrow. They should no longer play tricks with us”, Kamaal is reported to have warned and remarked on Congress.

Political observers here are unanimous that none of the spokespersons in the Indian political parties could make such policy statements of far-reaching consequences without a green signal from the top leadership. “Why doesn’t Farooq Abdullah make a public statement on Dr Kamaal’s tantrums? Why doesn’t Omar Abdullah tweet on it?” a senior political leader and legal luminary pointed out. He insisted that by fielding the unbridled Kamaal into the arena, NC was attempting to save the face it had lost in its failure to withdraw AFSPA “before this Durbar Move”.

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Court declines to order CBI probe in Yousuf death episode

Gupkar Road heaves sigh of relief but petitioner to file appeal in HC

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Nov 1: Notwithstanding Supreme Court notices to the State and the Central governments on Monday, an anti-corruption court today dismissed a petition seeking orders of CBI probe into the death of the ruling National Conference (NC) activist Haji Mohammad Yousuf and the accusations of political corruption leveled indirectly against the NC President and union Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah. Yousuf had died in controversial circumstances hours after being interrogated at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s residential office on September 29^th.

Special judge at designated anti-corruption court, Mr Mohammad Yousuf Akhoon, dismissed the petition of Syed Mohammad Talib, son of the deceased NC activist, Haji Yousuf of Loktipora, Bijbehara, with the observation that a subordinate court had not competence and jurisdiction to order an inquiry to CBI. Petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Mushtaq Ahmad, had offered his arguments on October 28^th and 29^th.

While Talib’s petition was under hearing in Srinagar, National panthers Party patron and senior advocate, Prof Bhim Singh approached Supreme Court of India with the identical prayer of registration of a murder case and a detained investigation by CBI. On Monday, a two-judge Bench of the apex court issued notices, returnable within two weeks, to the state government as well as the union government, asking why FIR be not registered and the inquiry be not assigned to CBI. Admission of the PIL, filed by state President of NPP and MLA of Udhampur, Balwan Singh Mankotia, through counsel Bhim Singh, would depend on the response from Government of Jammu and Kashmir and Government of India.

Supported by a number of the mainstream opposition parties, petitioner Syed Talib had underscored the accusations of the political corruption leveled indirectly against the top corridors of power, including union Minister of New and Renewable Energy Dr Farooq Abdullah. During the course of two interactions with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, complainants Mohammad Yousuf Bhat of Ganderbal, who also happened to be the CM’s Constituency representative in Ganderbal, had alleged that he had paid an amount of Rs 84 Lakh to the NC patriarch through Haji Yousuf on account of making him MLC and Minister of State for R&B in Omar Abdullah government.

Another NC activist and complainant, namely Abdul Salam Rishi of Akingam Anantnag, had alleged that he too paid Rs 34 lakh to the NC top brass for becoming MLC. Both had told Chief Minister that Haji Yousuf assured them that the money was being collected for Dr Abdullah. However, neither of them claimed to have directly talked to Dr Abdullah on the subject though they claimed that deceased Yousuf made them talk to Dr Abdullah over telephone. When neither of them got NC’s ticket in the Legislative Council elections in March 2011, they began demanding the money back. His failure led to the complaint going directly to Chief Minister on September 29^th.

NC as well as the state government have heaved a sigh of relief over today’s judgment of the anti-corruption court in Srinagar. Petitioner Talib as well as his counsel, Mushtaq Ahmed, however told mediapersons that they would go in appeal to J&K High Court.

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Pampore Police cracks sensational murder case

Siblings behind bars over cold blooded killing of youth

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Nov 1: Pampore Police have recovered the dead body of a mercilessly slain youth and also cracked the blind murder case within four days of occurrence. The criminals had kidnapped the youth while stealing away his valuables---including an iPad and Blackberry mobile phone set---and making an unsuccessful attempt to extort ransom of Rs one Crore from his father.

SP Awantipora, Mohammad Irshad, and SP East Srinagar, Shiekh Zulfikar, revealed at a news conference today that a youngster, namely Kaleem Qadiri of Gausiya Colony, Pampore, had disappeared in mysterious circumstances on October 28^th.  He was a 2^nd year graduation student at Amar Singh College, Srinagar.

His father, Javed Ahmed Qadiri, filed a missing report at Police Station Pampore same day at 2100 hours. They said that Police immediately launched a search to trace and recover the youth. Soon it became clear that Kaleem had driven towards Panta Chowk, Srinagar, in his Ford Figo, bearing registration No: JK01Q-1711, at 1730 hours after dropping his father at Frestbal, Pampore.

At about 2230 hours, father of the missing youth informed Police that he had received a phone call from the mobile number of his son and the caller identified himself as a kidnapper associated with the militant outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyiba. The caller warned Javed Qadiri against informing the Police. He demanded a ransom of Rs one Crore in exchange for Kaleem’s release.

Consequently the missing report was turned into FIR No. 169/2011 under section 365, 387 RPC. A joint team of Awantipora and Srinagar Police was constituted to investigate the case. During investigation of the case, the finger of suspicion went towards one Nazar Muhammad Dar S/o Late Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Dar, resident of nearby Rakh Shalina village, who was last spotted with the missing youth in the car. Nazar, who has been operating a mobile servicing shop at Pampore, was called to the Police Station and subjected to sustained interrogation.

During the course of questioning, Naza revealed that he was close friend of Kaleem Qadri but had not met or talked to him on phone for the last over one week. That strengthened the suspicion against him. During further questioning, Nazar disclosed that sometime back he hatched up a conspiracy with his brother, Younis Ahmed Dar, who runs a small time chemist’s shop in Shalina and a friend, Javed Ahmed Bhat of Wahabpora, Budgam, who has settled in Tengan Shalina, to kidnap Kaleem and extort a hefty ransom from his opulent father.

Acting upon the conspiracy already hatched, the missing youth was lured by Nazar to move towards Panta Chowk, Srinagar, where he promised him to sell his iPad against a considerable amount. Waiting for Kaleem at Lasjan bridge, Younis and Javed also boarded the Car and moved towards Nowgam. After driving a distance in the deserted Bypass area, they strangled Kaleem to death near Silver Star Hotel with a waist belt they had carried along. Thereafter, drove all the way to Wahabpora village in Budgam district via Hyderpora and Budgam.

Near Wahabpora, all the three accused wrapped the dead body in a bed sheet and put it in the dickey of the vehicle. They moved towards Bemina, Shalteng area to wait for total darkness. At about 2130 hours, the killers brought the body back to Sheerbagh Lasjan where it was loaded on a boat and dumped in the middle of the river Jhelum after tying some stones of 25 Kg weight to it.

The car of the deceased was taken to Jawahar Nagar and was parked on The Bandh near Foot Bridge Lal Mandi. Having parked the vehicle, the accused Nazar Muhammad Dar made a phone call to the father of the deceased telling him that the vehicle was parked near the foot bridge in Lal Mandi, Srinagar. He was warned against informing Police and asked to arrange ransom of Rs one Crore by next morning. The father in distress, however, informed Police who later recovered the car from the identified spot.

Kaleem’s iPad and Blackberry mobile phone set were also recovered from Nazar Muhammad’s house. Strenuous efforts were made to fish out the body from the river on October 31st but it could not be recovered till late evening and the search was suspended due to darkness. It was finally fished out in the morning today from the same spot where it had been dumped into Jhelum near Sempora.

Siblings Nazar and Younis have been arrested and the third accused Javaid Ahmad Bhat S/o Mohammad Ishaq Bhat R/o Wahabpora, presently Tengan Rakh Shlaina is still at large. Another suspect namely Abid Hussain Bhat son of Ghulam Muhammad Bhat resident of Tangan is also being questioned to ascertain his involvement and further details.

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Rather, Maulvi Iftikhar in 25-member Indian Hajj delegation

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Nov 1: Four mainstream politicians from Jammu & Kashmir are among 25-member strong Indian Hajj delegation which is scheduled to leave for performing Hajj in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

The goodwill delegation, led by Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Shri K Rahman Khan, called on the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi today. The Prime Minister urged the delegation to convey good wishes to the people of Saudi Arabia on behalf of 120 Crore people of India. The Prime Minister said India enjoys excellent relations with Saudi Arabia, and the rest of the Arab world, and would strive to take them further.

The delegation includes a number of members of the civil society and Muslim intelligentsia from several Indian states with glaring exception of Jammu & Kashmir which is a predominantly Muslim population state. Politicians and bureaucrats of the NC-Congress coalition government have yet again succeeded to establish monopoly for themselves and their favourites both in the Indian Hajj delegation as well as the state-sponsored Khuddaam-ul-Hujjaj---government officials performing Hajj on the expenditure from public exchequer but actually supposed to provide different services and solutions to the pilgrims from the state.

According to sources, Department of Revenue, that functions under Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir and Financial Commissioner Revenue, has yet again repeated a number of Khuddaam who have already performed Hajj at the government expense several number in the past.

The Indian Hajj delegation this year includes senior National Conference (NC) leader and Minister of Finance, Abdul Rahim Rather, PDF’s lonely MLA and former Minister Hakeem Mohammad Yasin, Congress leader and advocate from Baramulla, Ghulam Nabi Monga, as also the opposition PDP’s MLA and prominent Shia-Muslim cleric Maulvi Iftikhar Hussain Ansari. While Ansari reached New Delhi late in the afternoon, Messers Rather, Hakeem and Monga were among those who met with the Prime Minister today.

This year’s Hajj delegation is headed by Mr K Rahman Khan, Deputy Chairman, of Rajya Sabha. Others in the Indian delegation include 

The mainstream politicians  Abdul Kashem Sabhapati, Khargram Panchayat Samity,Murshidabad, West Bengal, M.J. Rehman, Senior Vice President, Amity Group, Sheikh Alim, Advocate & Secretary, Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee, Sayed Mohammed Moin, Delhi, Mohammed Hassan Fazal, Bangalore, Sultan Ahmed, MoS Tourism, Aquil Ahmad Rahi, General Secretary JD(U), Syed Abbas Ali Shihab Thangal, AI Manhal, Pannakkad, Mallapuram,  Khurshid Aziz, Jagdishpur, Amethi, Mohammad Usman, Raebareilly, Maqsood Alam, Sultanpur, Hafiz Sajid Hasan Khattat, Bijnor, Abrar Ahmed, Joint Secretray, union Ministry of Minority Affairs, Mufti Abdullah Mohamed, Hasnot, Bharuch, Gujarat, Shanavas, M.P., Lok Sabha, Wayanad, Kerala, Mohammad Adeeb, M.P Rajya Sabha, Dr M Saleem Kidwai, Centre for Canadian, US & Latin American Studies, Sayyed Qasim Ashraf, Lucknow, Justice Bhanwaroo Khan, Judicial Member, Armed Forces Tribunal, Jaipur Bench and Hasan Shuja, Chief Editor, Sahafat and Urdu newspaper Awwam-e-Hind.

Members of the Hajj delegation are scheduled to return to New Delhi from Saudi Arabia on November 15^th and 16^th.

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Court declines to order CBI probe in Yousuf death episode

Gupkar Road heaves sigh of relief but petitioner to file appeal in HC

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Nov 1: Notwithstanding Supreme Court notices to the State and the Central governments on Monday, an anti-corruption court today dismissed a petition seeking orders of CBI probe into the death of the ruling National Conference (NC) activist Haji Mohammad Yousuf and the accusations of political corruption leveled indirectly against the NC President and union Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah. Yousuf had died in controversial circumstances hours after being interrogated at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s residential office on September 29^th.

Special judge at designated anti-corruption court, Mr Mohammad Yousuf Akhoon, dismissed the petition of Syed Mohammad Talib, son of the deceased NC activist, Haji Yousuf of Loktipora, Bijbehara, with the observation that a subordinate court had not competence and jurisdiction to order an inquiry to CBI. Petitioner’s counsel, Advocate Mushtaq Ahmad, had offered his arguments on October 28^th and 29^th.

While Talib’s petition was under hearing in Srinagar, National panthers Party patron and senior advocate, Prof Bhim Singh approached Supreme Court of India with the identical prayer of registration of a murder case and a detained investigation by CBI. On Monday, a two-judge Bench of the apex court issued notices, returnable within two weeks, to the state government as well as the union government, asking why FIR be not registered and the inquiry be not assigned to CBI. Admission of the PIL, filed by state President of NPP and MLA of Udhampur, Balwan Singh Mankotia, through counsel Bhim Singh, would depend on the response from Government of Jammu and Kashmir and Government of India.

Supported by a number of the mainstream opposition parties, petitioner Syed Talib had underscored the accusations of the political corruption leveled indirectly against the top corridors of power, including union Minister of New and Renewable Energy Dr Farooq Abdullah. During the course of two interactions with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, complainants Mohammad Yousuf Bhat of Ganderbal, who also happened to be the CM’s Constituency representative in Ganderbal, had alleged that he had paid an amount of Rs 84 Lakh to the NC patriarch through Haji Yousuf on account of making him MLC and Minister of State for R&B in Omar Abdullah government.

Another NC activist and complainant, namely Abdul Salam Rishi of Akingam Anantnag, had alleged that he too paid Rs 34 lakh to the NC top brass for becoming MLC. Both had told Chief Minister that Haji Yousuf assured them that the money was being collected for Dr Abdullah. However, neither of them claimed to have directly talked to Dr Abdullah on the subject though they claimed that deceased Yousuf made them talk to Dr Abdullah over telephone. When neither of them got NC’s ticket in the Legislative Council elections in March 2011, they began demanding the money back. His failure led to the complaint going directly to Chief Minister on September 29^th.

NC as well as the state government have heaved a sigh of relief over today’s judgment of the anti-corruption court in Srinagar. Petitioner Talib as well as his counsel, Mushtaq Ahmed, however told mediapersons that they would go in appeal to J&K High Court.

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Yousuf death row takes a dramatic turn

Why not FIR, CBI probe? SC issues notice to GOI, J&K Govt

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Oct 31: Political controversy over the death of the National Conference (NC) activist Haji Mohammad Yousuf of Bijbehara today took a dramatic turn when Supreme Court of India issued notices to Government of Jammu & Kashmir as well as Government of India, asking why a murder case be not filed in the matter and why the inquiry be not assigned to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Senior Supreme Court advocate and Patron of the National Panthers Party (NPP), Prof Bhim Singh, told Early Times that with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on behalf of NPP President and MLA Udhampur, Balwan Singh Mankotia, he appeared today before a two-judge Bench at the apex court. According to him, the petitioner has complained that Haji Yousuf had died in “suspicious circumstances” hours after coming out of J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s office-cum-residence on Gupkar Road, Srinagar, on September 30^th.  He has complained that inspite of the hue and cry by family members of the deceased and palpable public unrest, Government of Jammu and Kashmir has neither filed an FIR nor got the matter investigated by any official agency in the last one month.

Bhim Singh said that his client has prayed for registration of FIR besides a credible investigation by CBI. According to him, Mr Mankotia has asked in the PIL as to why family members or an attorney of the deceased NC activist were not informed about his detention by Crime Branch till he was found dead in a Police hospital. He said that taking cognizance of the custody death, the Bench comprising Mr Justice Altamas Kabir and Mr Justice Surinder Singh Nijjar served notices on the Government of Jammu & Kashmir and the Union Government, asking why FIR be not registered and the investigation assigned to CBI. The notices are returnable within two weeks.

Known for his proximity to the NC President and union Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, 61-year-old Haji Yousuf of Loktipora, Bijbehara, had been called to the CM’s camp office, adjacent to his residence, on Gupkar Road, on September 29^th when two of his party colleagues reportedly complained to Chief Minister that he had collected an amount of Rs 1.18 Cr from them for favours not done. Mr Omar Abdullah’s constituency representative in Ganderbal, Mohammad Yousuf Bhat, complained that Haji had received from him Rs 84 Lakh with the commitment that he would be appointed as a Member in Legislative Council on NC’s ticket in the April 2011 elections and thereafter inducted as a Minister of State (MoS) in the Council of Ministers.

Similarly, another junior NC activist, namely Abdul Salam Rishi of Akingam (Anantnag), complained that Haji had collected cash worth Rs 34 Lakh from him for getting him elected as MLC. According to the complainants, Haji had assured them that he had fixed the deal with the NC President Dr Abdullah. While as Rs 1.00 Cr stood fixed as the “fee” for becoming MLC plus MoS, aspirants of a berth in Legislative Council were supposed to pay Rs 50 Lakh each. Even as the complainants maintained during two rounds of conversation with Chief Minister and his colleagues that they had not struck the deal directly with Dr Abdullah, they claimed that Haji had arranged their telephonic interaction with the NC President.

Rishi revealed that Haji returned to him Rs 23.50 Lakh when he was not appointed MLC but he retained rest of Rs 10.50 Lakh. Bhat claimed that Haji had retained entire Rs 84 Lakh even after he failed to get him elected as MLC /inducted as MoS of R&B Department. Thereupon, Chief Minister reportedly called IGP Crime, Raja Aijaz Ali, and gave all three of his party colleagues into his custody for registration of a criminal FIR and detailed investigation. However, Haji developed disturbing symptoms on way to Crime Branch headquarters that prompted his admission into Police Hospital. Next morning, he breathed his last in mysterious circumstances.

Inquest conducted by additional District Magistrate of Srinagar did not detect any foul play. It established “cardio respiratory arrest” as the cause of death on the basis of medico-legal opinion from FSL and Forensic Medicine Department of Government Medical College Srinagar.

Government got a matter of “cheating” registered at Crime Branch against Haji and also announced judicial inquiry into the circumstances that led to his death. It requisitioned a sitting High Court judge from Chief Justice of J&K High Court for holding a commission of inquiry into Haji’s death. The other day only, Registrar General of J&K High Court, Mr J R Kotwal, communicated back to the state government, through Department of Law, that a sitting judge could not be spared for the investigation due to heavy workload and embargo by Supreme Court of India. Chief Minister ultimately wrote a letter to the union Minister of Law and Justice, Salman Khursheed, seeking a panel of three names of the retired judges of Supreme Court. He made it clear that one among the three would be appointed as Commission of Inquiry into Yousuf death controversy.

Even before the NPP leaders, Mankotia and Singh, approached Supreme Court of India with their PIL, deceased NC activist’s son, Syed Talib, filed a petition in an anti-corruption court in Srinagar, seeking thorough investigation into the charges of political corruption emanating from the death row. Court is expected to dispose off the petition on November 1^st. J&K State Accountability Commission (SAC), which is continuing deficient in terms of human resource, has remained a mute spectator to the serious accusations of political corruption that have made all the political appointments suspect in Jammu & Kashmir.

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