The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has launched an investigation into two former officials of the Srinagar Smart City Limited (SSCL) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
Reliable sources told that the ED’s Srinagar Zonal Office has begun investigation against Sajid Yousuf Bhat, the former Chief Financial Officer of SSCL, and Zahoor Ahmad Dar, former Executive Engineer of the project. Both officials were previously raided by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Jammu and Kashmir in connection with alleged misappropriation of funds and accumulated disproportionate of assets to their lawful known source of income, they said.
The ACB had registered the cases against Bhat and Dar on January 10, 2025
ACB wing of central Kashmir range headed by SP Zahoor Ahmad Wani had also conducted searches as part of the probe into allegations of corruption and the accumulation of assets beyond known sources of income by Bhat and Dar.
Sources said that the central agency is examining financial transactions and asset holdings of the two officers to establish whether proceeds of crime were involved.
The case has taken a new shape with the Enforcement Directorate now stepping in.
Further details are awaited as the ED continues its scrutiny of records and possible benami transactions linked to the case. (KDC)
