Srinagar, June 13: Troubled with various land scam cases in the state, Jammu and Kashmir government today said it has ordered a fresh high-level probe to investigate the bunglings and bring culprits to the book. "I have ordered a high-level probe by the settlement commissioner to probe into the several land scams that have taken place in the past," revenue minister Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen said in the legislative assembly during Question Hour.

Yaseen said that the committee -- formed on June 5, 2003 --has been asked to submit a comprehensive report on the scandals, which include the 22.5 hectare Rawalpora land scam worth about Rs 100 crore, within two months.

He said that the government was not satisfied with the interim reports submitted by various enquiry committees.

Later talking to newspersons, Yaseen said that he "fails to understand why those officials who were suspended and arrested for their involvement in the scams were reinstated by the previous government."

"And you cannot make just few low ranking officials of the revenue department as scapegoats for bunglings worth crores of rupees," he said, justifying the setting up of a fresh probe.
"We will ensure that the guilty are brought to book. Suspensions and transfers are not punishment enough for the quantum of malpractices they have indulged in," he added.
Bureau Report