SRINAGAR: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Jammu and Kashmir has arrested Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) Mubarak Ahmad Ganie of the Public Works Department (PWD) Roads and Buildings (R&B) Division, Sopore, in a bribery case.
The arrest followed a complaint lodged by a contractor who accused the official of demanding a 2 per cent commission as a bribe for processing payments related to construction work at Government Degree College (GDC), Sopore, a spokesman of the ACB said.
According to the ACB, the contractor, responsible for the construction of a G+2 Lecture Block at GDC Sopore, approached the bureau after AEE Mubarak Ahmad Ganie allegedly demanded a bribe of 2 per cent on both the current and previous bills cleared by him. The complainant stated that after submitting his CC 8th bill, which had been checked by the Junior Engineer (JE), he requested the AEE to process it for payment. However, Ganie refused to proceed unless the contractor paid the commission.
Unwilling to comply with the corrupt demand, the contractor filed a formal complaint with the ACB, requesting legal action against Ganie for refusing to process his payment without receiving the bribe.
Upon receiving the complaint, the ACB discreetly verified the allegations, which were found to be credible. The Bureau concluded that the accusations against Ganie constituted an offence under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018).
A formal FIR (No. 13/2024) was registered against Ganie, and a trap was set to catch him in the act. A team led by a Deputy Superintendent of Police was formed, and on October 16, 2024, the team successfully apprehended Ganie while accepting a bribe of ₹25,000 from the complainant at the PWD R&B office in Sopore. The bribe money was recovered from Ganie in the presence of independent witnesses, and additional cash was found during a personal search, which is now subject to further investigation.
Following the arrest, the ACB conducted searches at both Ganie’s residence and his official accommodation, recovering incriminating documents that were seized in the presence of a magistrate and independent witnesses. These documents are being examined as part of the ongoing investigation.
