Farooq among Roshni ‘beneficiaries’

New Delhi, November 24

Former CM and National Conference (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah has been named by the Jammu and Kashmir administration on a list that alleges that his residence in Jammu is built over “illegally possessed” land, a charge denied by the former.

The list highlighted that the NC headquarters in both Srinagar and Jammu were legalised under the controversial Roshni Act.

• Also read: Farooq did not benefit from Roshni scheme, claims NC 

Displaying the list on its website, the administration revealed that Abdullah’s house was built over an acre of encroached state land at Sunjwan. Demanding a probe, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said powerful people were involved in “conscious land loot” under the Roshni “scam”. He said names of several top politicians, including NC leaders and former state ministers from the Congress, who allegedly benefitted from the Act, had come to the fore.

Following directions by the High Court to make public land given under the controversial scheme, the UT administration came out with the list of beneficiaries, who allegedly encroached upon land in addition to what was allocated under the scheme. Earlier, three former ministers, several politicians and a former bureaucrat figured on the list. — TNS