Samaan Lateef
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, June 11
Days after Anti-Corruption Bureau raids on J&K Bank, the Income Tax (IT) Department has put the bank under surveillance and seized documents related to settlement of loans of high-profile businesses in the recent past.
Officials of the IT Department today raided the J&K Bank headquarters in Srinagar and seized the documents of loan settlements by ex-chairman Parveez Nengroo.
“We have put the bank under surveillance and are procuring documents pertaining to loans liquidated in the recent past,” an Income Tax Department official told The Tribune.
The J&K government, which holds 59 per cent stake in the bank, removed Negroo on Saturday from his post and also raids were carried by the Anti-Corruption Bureaus at the bank headquarters.
Loans worth hundreds of crores were allegedly allotted and liquidated without formalities in “brazen violation” of standard operating procedures.
After his removal, Nengroo in a Twitter post said he had no regret over his work and that he did his job “most diligently, honestly and in the best interest of the institution”.
Earlier in the day, the IT Department officials carried out raids at 10 properties of Kehwah group promoted by Sheikh Imran, Deputy Mayor of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation.
They alleged that the Kehwah group, with Imran as its chairman, is facing default proceedings after 23 of its accounts with the J&K Bank were declared non-performing assets for dues of over Rs 120 crore.
They have found Imran “owned two undisclosed properties” in Delhi and one in Bangalore. Also, the Income Tax official said Imran had not disclosed the source of money he deposited in the bank to liquidate one of his loans. “He has also not filed the returns of the money generated from selling out Kehwah group subsidiaries, including snow cabs,” he said.
In the Kashmir Valley, the searches were conducted at Harwan, Nishat, and Bohri Kadal localities of Srinagar and five other nearby locations. However, Imran said the department had not conveyed to him about any such complaint.
‘Loans restructured’
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