SRINAGAR: A Senior Prosecuting Officer of Jammu and Kashmir has been arrested on corruption charges for taking a bribe of Rs two lakhs for not arraying a person as an accused in a murder case.
A spokesman of State Vigilance Organisation said during investigation, it was found that Senior Prosecuting Officer of Poonch district in Jammu province Ajaz ul Hassan had demanded a bribe of Rs 2 lakhs from one Moulvi Mushtaq Ahmed for not involving him in a murder case registered against his real relatives.
According to sources, in 2014 Ajaz, who was Senior Prosecuting Officer in JMIC Court Thanamandi in Poonch district had demanded an amount of Rs 2 lakh from Moulvi Mushtaq for not arraying him as an accused in the murder case in which his father Mohammad Iqbal, brother and sister were already behind the bars.
It was established during investigation that the accused Senior Prosecuting Officer accepted the bribe amount from Mushtaq in three installments, the vigilance spokesman said.
He said to question him regarding his further involvement in the case, Ajaz, who is presently posted as Senior Prosecuting Officer in Poonch district, was arrested by the sleuths of Vigilance Organization and lodged in a Police Station.
The spokesman said his sustained questioning is going on and there is likelihood that more arrests may take place.
Sources said the vigilance is probing whether the accused senior Prosecuting Officer had committed similar acts in another cases and provided “safe passage” to the accused.
“He is being quizzed in this regard,” they said adding it can only be known after his questioning that in how many cases he had taken bribe and how many persons got benefitted from his unethical actions.
The case has brought functioning of Prosecuting Officers under the scanner. It has raised serious questions over functioning of Prosecuting Officers, especially in cases, where majority of accused have been acquitted.