Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Aug 20: Police today arrested Director Finance, Tahseen Mufti, on charges of forgery of Rs 5 lakh cheque which she has credited to her salary account in Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Branch Civil Secretariat, early this month.
Police said that one Sajjad Ahmad Bhat of Rajbagh, Srinagar had lodged a complaint with police station Shaheed Gunj, Srinagar, a month ago that he had lost a cheque worth Rs 5 lakh in Shaheed Gunj area of Srinagar.
Police registered a case and conducted investigations. Police, during the investigation, found that the cheque was credited to the Jammu and Kashmir Bank account of Tehseen Mufti, Director Finance Sheep and Animal Husbandry Department Kashmir, at Civil Secretariat Branch on August 6.
A police officer said that the Director had written her name – Tehseen Mufti – and date on the cheque on her own and faces forgery charges.
The officer said that the Director was called to police station this morning and she was formally arrested. She has been shifted to Women’s police station, Ram Bagh and is being questioned.
The Police officer said that a case was registered in this matter a month ago after Bhat lodged a complaint with police. He said that Mufti has been booked under 420, 467, 468, 471 Sections of RPC. The sections pertain to fraud and forgery of cheque.
However, Mufti told Excelsior that she has sold a disputed land in Jammu to Bhat who gave her cheque worth Rs 5 lakh as initial amount. “The land has some litigation problem and Bhat purchased it and gave me a cheque worth Rs 5 lakh”, she added.
“What is wrong in it? I sold my property and credited the cheque to my account. Bhat gave me cheque few months ago. The cheque bounced several times and finally it was credited to my account. I have not done anything wrong. It is a conspiracy against me”, she said.
Mufti, however, admitted that the cheque was without date and name and she wrote her name and date on it before depositing it in the Bank.
Sources, however, said that it seems to the investigators that it is a case of corruption. They said that police is also investigating corruption angle of this case.