A gang that ‘duped’ over 115 families of Ramban district…!
ABRAR MATTOO
SRINAGAR, Nov 15: Beginning in 2017, the current Dy. Mayor SMC, Parvez Qadri led a 5G Tower Installation Scam in district Ramban in which over a 100 families and gullible landowners were cheated of nearly 40 lakh rupees.
A preliminary report compiled by the Crime Branch Kashmir (CBK), under FIR number 28/2019, reveals shocking details about how a gang of a few people led by the current deputy mayor of Srinagar Municipal Corporation connived to cheat the credulous inhabitants of a border district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Sources revealed to Kashmir Despatch that the scam started in 2017, when Parvez Qadri and his associates met Abdul Latief Naik, son of Mohammad Yousuf Naik, a resident of Sarchi, Tehsil Khadi, of district Ramban, while they were traveling in a train from Srinagar to Banihal.
Both Parvez Qadri and his associates, namely Arif Hussain Beig, a resident of Chandhara Pampore, introduced themselves to Latief under the aliases, Younis and Jana, respectively (Younis being Parvez Qadri and Jana being Arif Hussain Beig).
Both Qadri and Arif posed as engineers of a telecommunication company named Uninor and told Latief that their company is going to install 5G towers in district Ramban and they are looking for landowners/homeowners who could give out their land for rent for the installation of these towers.
Latief being a local of the district was handed over the job to hunt for landowners/homeowners and for this work, he was promised a salary of Rs. 8,000 and appointed as a supervisor of Uninor wireless Pvt. Ltd. Unitech house I, block south-city-1, Gurgoan–122001, Haryana.
Surprisingly, the appointment letter and ID card that was handed to Latief were forged and he being an illiterate person and a common laborer was not able to spot the mischief in it all.
Pertinently, Uninor telecommunications ceased its operations in 2012 following cancellation of its licenses by the Supreme Court and later its assets were transferred to another telecommunications company named Telenor, which was eventually taken over by Bharti Airtel in 2017.
Instantly, Latief began to woo landowners/homeowners for the land, and both Parvez Qadri and Arif Hussain Beig put themselves on the back foot. For the landowners/homeowners, this seemed a pretty sweet deal.
Upon the installation of each 5G tower, the landowners were promised Rs. 18,000 in rent for every 10 Marlas of land, and, one member of their family was going to be employed as a guard/helper who would also be entitled to an Rs. 8,000 salary.
Parvez Qadri and his associate were rather blatant and told the landowners/homeowners that if they wished to avail of these benefits, they shall have to pay Rs. 80,000 in bribes to them.
Once the bribe of Rs. 80,000 was deposited in the accounts or paid in cash, the landowners/house owners were handed over a contract (forged) from Uninor telecommunications and a post-dated cheque of Rs.1,80,000 on account of advance rent for nine months.
Since all these fake contracts and cheques were dated for the next year, between the months of May-June 2018, the landowners were not able to determine the fraud that was happening to them at that time.
All these fake documents, contracts, and audio recordings between landowners and Parvaiz Qadri, his associate Arif Hussain Beig, and another Srinavastav, whom the landowners had met at a hotel in Jammu and who had posed as the CEO/Director of the Uninor Telecommunications, are in possessions of Kashmir Despatch and reveal a shocking scam that was carried out between October 2017 and June 2018 in the border district Ramban.
According to Crime Branch Kashmir’s preliminary report, the collected money of Rs. 23.90 lakh was deposited by Abdul Latief into Parvez Qadri’s bank accounts, under no. CD-077701000003388 J&K Bank, IST Unit Lal Chowk Srinagar and A/C No. 026601538030 ICICI Bank Residency Road Jammu.
“The complainant also paid Rs. 15.0 Lakh through cash to the suspect (Parvaiz Qadri),” the report produced by Crime Branch Kashmir noted.
“It has also come to fore that the suspect (Parvaiz Qadri) handed over 18 appointment letters as helpers and supervisors to the complainant (Abdul Latief Naik) but upon verifications, the same was found to be fake and fictitious.”
The Crime Branch further found that the cheques (100 in number) of Kotak Mahindra bank Jammu against account no. 2711995397 on the pretext of advance rent were fake and pertained to “some non-existent account.”
Abdul Latief Naiko, upon whose shoulder the whole scam was run, is currently hiding somewhere in Jammu region. He has not been able to visit home as he is the one who vouched on behalf of Parvaiz and his associates and the people of Ramban are blaming him for the so called ‘5G Towers Scam’. Latief has three children, one of whom died in his absence and his father, who was a tailor by profession, also died in the meantime.
While speaking with Kashmir Despatch over a phone call from his hiding spot, Latief said that Parvaiz Qadri and his associates have done the greatest wrong to him and people in Ramban have tried to burn/ransack his house hundreds of times in these last five years.
“I was a mere laborer and did not know what scam was being run on my shoulders. I hope the Lt. Governor of Jammu and Kashmir would take cognizance of this case and help me get justice. I am poor, powerless, and right now in a pathetic condition; the government must come to my aid for the sake of justice. The case has been pending for the last three years at Crime Branch Kashmir, and no action has been taken against Parvez Qadri and his associates,” Latief added in hope.
Latief further said that Parvez Qadri had instructed him to take a plot of 3 Kanals on rent where a warehouse for the storage of tower materials could be build, and the said owner of the land is claiming Rs. 18 lakh from him because the rent deed was signed in Latief’s name for a period of 3 years.
While speaking with Kashmir Despatch, Dy. Mayor SMC Parvaiz Qadri put a blame on Arif Hussain Beig, alias Jana, who has been identified as his co-conspirator by Crime Branch Kashmir, and said that the prime accused is Jana (Arif Hussain Beig) who owed him the money back then, and “the transactions of money in my accounts that took place via Latief and other people were all done by Jana in the extension of paying me back the money that was owed to me.”
FIR No. 28/2019 stands registered at Crime Branch Kashmir against incumbent SMC Dy. Mayor, Parvez Qadri, son of Siraj Ud din Qadri, resident of Doulat Abad, Khanyar Srinagar; against Arif Fida Beig son of Mohammad Shaban Beig, resident of Chandhara Pampore, and one Srinivastav, under RPC sections 420 (forgery and cheating), 467 (forgery of unchangeable security will), 468 (Forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (Using as genuine a forged document).
According to sources in Crime Branch Kashmir, the case has been submitted for approval before the higher ups in the department and in a few days, a charge sheet would be filed before the designated court. It remains to be what would follow, especially when numerous other cases of bribery, fraud, and fake appointments stand registered against the incumbent Dy. Mayor of SMC, Parvaiz Qadri.
