Jammu Land 3A Mutation Probe Widens: ACB Faces a Challenge to Trace Missing Mutations, Bring Culprits to Book

Alleged Delays, Missing Records, and Ongoing Illegalities Shadow Investigation into Hundreds of Mutations Across Multiple Tehsils

• ACB probes 300-400 potentially fraudulent land mutations across five Jammu Tehsils; 179 seized from R.S. Pura alone (Ref: Letter No TRSP/08/2025-26/30-33 Dated 15/04/2025).
• A 2022 Revenue Dept. letter (Ref: No. DCJ/SQ/Misc/2021-22/6433 Dated 24/03/2022) on Section 3A rights suggests prior awareness, questioning earlier inaction.
• Concerns mount over allegedly missing mutation records pre-submission to ACB, posing a major challenge to Verification No. 01/2024 P/S ACB Central Jammu.
• Ongoing illicit land deals, construction on probed lands, and alleged post-raid mutation tampering manipulated by a defiant Patwari challenge ACB’s authority and efficacy.

MOHIT MEHRA

Jammu, April 21, 2025: A sprawling investigation by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) into potentially hundreds of fraudulent land mutations across Jammu is raising serious questions about administrative oversight, alleged procedural delays, and possible evidence tampering. The probe, encompassing vast tracts of land spread across at least five Tehsils (R.S. Pura, Marh, Jammu North, Bishnah, and Bhalwal), centres on suspicious changes to land ownership records (intakaal), potentially linked to manipulations of Occupancy Tenancy Rights under Section 3A.

The scale of the investigation is significant. Following an initial inquiry communicated via ACB letter No. SP/ACB/2025/889-900 dated March 20, 2025, the Tehsildar of R.S. Pura submitted records related to a staggering 179 mutations under Verification No. 01/2024 P/S ACB Central Jammu, as confirmed by their response letter No TRSP/08/2025-26/30-33 dated April 15, 2025. Information suggests substantial numbers of suspicious mutations were also seized from Marh (reportedly less than 50), Jammu North (a similar number), Bishnah, and Bhalwal Tehsils. Cumulatively, the ACB is believed to be scrutinizing between 300 and 400 mutations. A critical question arising now is just how many illicit mutations might have been purged from the records before seizure, presenting a formidable challenge for the ACB to uncover the true extent of the alleged scam.

Disturbingly, evidence suggests red flags may have been raised much earlier. An official letter issued by an Assistant Commissioner Revenue (ACR) back on March 24, 2022, (Vide No. DCJ/SQ/Misc/2021-22/6433) specifically addressed the subject of “Occupancy tenancy rights under Section 3A.” This raises critical questions: If the Revenue Department was alerted to potential irregularities concerning these rights in 2022, why did relevant Tehsil offices allegedly fail to submit necessary records (Fard) or take corrective action then? Timely intervention might have prevented the situation from escalating.

The timeline of the ACB’s own actions is also under scrutiny. While the formal verification gathered pace in 2024-2025, sources claim complaints regarding potentially fake mutations began surfacing as early as 2017 or 2018, suggesting a significant delay before large-scale raids commenced in 2024. Furthermore, sources indicate that a specific Patwari, allegedly involved in a 3A mutation scam, faced multiple ACB raids and even FIRs but despite these official warnings, he reportedly continued his malpractices, and further manipulated the execution of a specific land which was under scrutiny after a complaint in 2019 and manipulated the said land from state land to private land. Through his colleagues who were at that particular post after he was shifted and executed a mutation under 3A but removed that from records so that it does not go into the hands of ACB. Sources confirmed this fraudulent mutation of 25 to 30 Kanals but was removed from the records and got it signed, backdated, from the officials who were posted then in the Patwar Halqa. The apparent lack of stringent action against this individual, despite his open defiance, starkly poses the question: Who holds more power in Jammu and Kashmir – the Anti-Corruption Bureau or a single, allegedly corrupt Patwari?

Compounding these concerns are alarming allegations emerging from sources close to the developments. It is claimed that even as the ACB investigation proceeds, some land parcels linked to the seized mutations are currently being sold through agreements, while construction activity is reportedly underway on others, indicating a brazen disregard for the ongoing probe.

Perhaps most damaging are claims, attributed to sources, that crucial mutation records may have been deliberately removed from official files before the records were handed over to the ACB team. This raises the critical question of whether the ACB can identify and investigate these potentially “vanished” mutations, essential for uncovering the full extent of the alleged scam.

Adding another layer of audacity, sources allege that even after the ACB initiated its raids, one Patwari defiantly processed another suspect mutation, which was already mentioned in a compliant to ACB, through his colleagues where he was posted earlier. Shockingly, this newly processed mutation also reportedly disappeared from the official records shortly thereafter.

With hundreds of potentially fraudulent land transactions under the scanner and troubling allegations of systemic delays, missing evidence, continued illicit activity, and blatant defiance, the pressure is mounting on the ACB. The key question remains whether the investigation can overcome these hurdles to identify and prosecute all individuals involved – including any complicit officials or land mafia elements – or if complexities and alleged sabotage will allow the matter to be buried, leaving justice undelivered. The swift and transparent conclusion of Verification No. 01/2024 is now critical to restoring public faith.

In the next story, Jammu Jottings will publish details about which specific state land this Patwari allegedly converted to private ownership and which land he subjected to a backdated Section 3A mutation. Even though, that specific mutation is currently not available in the official records.