In connivance with department officials, a Flour Mill owner in Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal District has duped Power Development Department of lakhs of rupees.Reliable sources told CNS that Chief Engineer PDD Kashmir, Bashir Ahmed Khan received numerous complaints about the alleged fraud committed by the owner of a Flour Mill located in Zazna, Badampora area of Ganderbal district.“I was told that there is something wrong going on inside the Flour Mill. Due to some tampering in meters, the Mill owner was paying scanty dues while the consumption of Mill in terms of electricity was recorded very high,” Chief Engineer Kashmir told CNS adding that a squad who inspected the Mill seized all the records pertaining to meter reading and the investigation is going on.
Interestingly, an employee from Billing section of PDD sub-pision Tulmula Ganderbal claims that due to technical snag in computer, the department was unable to dispatch appropriate bills to the owner of the Flour Mill.However, another official of PDD told CNS on condition of anonymity that Mill owner is a close relative of AEE PDD Ganderbal and it may be this official who could have contacted AEE PDD Sub-pision Tulmulla under whose jurisdiction the Mill falls.Confirming that Mill owner is a close relative of a PDD official, Executive Engineer PDD for Ganderbal District, Muzaffar Lone told CNS that investigation is going on and whosoever is found guilty will be punished. “Yes, the Mill owner was paying scanty dues due to tempering in meters and we are investigating the matter,” he said. (CNS)