Avinash Azad
A deep-rooted nexus between politically-connected land grabbers and officials in the Revenue Department has come to light in the Chak-Rakwal and Bain Bajalta villages of Jammu district, raising serious concerns over how common citizens are being bulldozed by the power-hungry mafia manipulating official records to seize vast stretches of land.
Insiders reveal that the Latha (a crucial land record document) of village Chak-Rakwal in Nagrota Tehsil has been deliberately tampered with — possibly washed — by revenue officials, to favour individuals with political backing. The manipulation came to light in June 2024. However, a demarcation drive launched by the Revenue Wing of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is going on it will certainly expose this scam. Yet, despite explicit directives from the Bureau not to issue any land extracts (Fard), routine issuance continues unabated, exposing a blatant disregard for institutional authority.
Land Boundaries Redrawn to Please Political Masters
In a shocking instance of record tampering, sources revealed that after altering the Latha, Khasra numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of village Bain Bajalta are now being wrongly shown as part of the disputed land lying between Chak-Rakwal and Bain Bajalta, despite field records (Mussavi) clearly proving otherwise. The Mussavi shows that Khasra numbers 16 and 17 of Bain Bajalta are the true bordering plots with Chak-Rakwal.
“This deliberate annexation of Chak-Rakwal’s land into Bain Bajalta is aimed at legitimising encroachments by powerful individuals,” a source in the Revenue Department told The Hidden News, requesting anonymity. “All this is happening under the shadow of political muscle. The revenue staff is clearly under pressure to serve their ‘masters’.
College Land Caught in the Scam
Adding to the murkiness, the land on which Government Degree College (GDC), Sidhra is situated is originally located on Khasra number 16 of Bain Bajalta. However, in a stunning act of manipulation, records now falsely show the land as part of Khasra number 5, evidently to extend the land grab beyond limits.
“This manipulation appears to have been orchestrated at the behest of one Mohd Iqbal, son of former MLC Mohd Hussain, who allegedly owns land in the newly created, and possibly fake, Khasra numbers 1 to 5 of Bain Bajalta,” a senior source familiar with the matter alleged. “The same revenue officials who are serving Iqbal’s interests have conveniently been posted in this sensitive zone.”
ACB’s Crackdown Under Watch
The ACB, which is currently conducting a demarcation survey, has so far remained tight-lipped, but insiders suggest that the irregularities are too blatant to ignore. Sources say that if the demarcation drive continues without political interference, it will uncover a network of corruption and criminal collusion that could rival previous scams unearthed in Bhalwal Tehsil, where revenue officials had similarly collaborated with powerful encroachers.
“If ACB does its job honestly, the Chak-Rakwal and Bain Bajalta fraud will be an eye-opener, not just for citizens but for higher authorities who’ve been misled for years,” a retired revenue officer told The Hidden News. “This is a textbook example of how a few families have captured the administrative machinery and turned public land into personal estates.” The ACB has undoubtedly exposed many land scams in J&K in the recent past, giving hope to the people that those who have flouted the law will face exemplary punishment for their misdeeds.
Ordinary residents in the area are left voiceless, fearful of retaliation. With no access to justice, and little hope of fairness from revenue offices corrupted to the core, people are watching helplessly as their land is swallowed by political greed. The time is now for higher authorities in the Union Territory administration and central investigative agencies to take cognizance of the fraud and ensure the Anti-Corruption Bureau is given free hand to complete its demarcation and initiate criminal proceedings against the guilty — no matter how politically connected they may be. The people of Jammu are watching. And The Hidden News will continue to expose the rot, wherever it lies.
