EOW chargesheets CAT employee, five others for document tampering

The Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch Kashmir has filed a chargesheet against six accused for allegedly tampering with documents submitted before the Central Administrative Tribunal, officials said on Wednesday.

The chargesheet has been filed under various Sections of the IPC before the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, Crime Branch officials said.

The six accused in the case are Pathan Majid Ahmad Khan, Mushtaq Ahmad Rather, Mudasir Yousuf Wani, Ghulam Mohammad Reshi, and Bashir Ahmad Dar — all residents of the Sopore area in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district — and Anoop Mishra, a resident of Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, residing currently near the DC Office, Jammu.

Officials said the case stems from a communication highlighting suspected tampering of official documents submitted before the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) by the office of the chief horticulture officer.

During the investigation, it was established that records submitted before CAT Srinagar were “unlawfully altered while in its custody”.

The prime accused Khan — in criminal conspiracy with CAT employee Mishra and other employees — made “unauthorised insertions” in records regarding their regularisation in the Horticulture Department, officials said.

The investigators also recovered at least 12 official seals of different departments or institutions, including director (horticulture), BDO, tehsildar, zonal education officer (ZEO), etc., from Khan’s residence, they said.

The call detail records and WhatsApp communications corroborated the conspiracy and criminal breach of trust by the CAT employee, Mishra, as established from Khan’s seized cellphone, according to officials.

The chargesheet has been submitted for judicial determination, they added.