CBI Books Ramban Patwari in ₹5 Lakh Bribery Case Linked to Land Compensation Fraud

Jammu — The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), Jammu has registered a case against Uttam Singh, Office Patwari in the office of the Assistant Commissioner (Revenue), Ramban, for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of ₹5 lakh to process a government land compensation (Muavja) file

According to the FIR (RC0042026A0003), the complainant, Shri Pardeep Singh, son of Shri Budhi Singh, resident of Village Ganjoli, Panchayat Manjikote, Tehsil Mahore, District Reasi (J&K), alleged that his family’s agricultural land at Palli, District Ramban, was acquired by the government. The compensation file was under process in the ACR Ramban office.

The Patwari, Uttam Singh, allegedly obtained four blank signed cheques (Nos. 487541 to 487544) from the complainant’s J&K Bank account (No. 0611040860002012) on the pretext of completing file formalities. The total compensation was approximately ₹34 lakh, of which the complainant had already received ₹15 lakh on February 11, 2026, with ₹19 lakh still pending.

On February 16, 2026, the complainant discovered that ₹3 lakh had been withdrawn from his account using two of the cheques — ₹2 lakh on February 11 and ₹1 lakh on February 12. When confronted, Uttam Singh allegedly admitted taking the money as his “fees” for processing the file and demanded the remaining ₹2 lakh as illegal gratification to clear the balance compensation. He reportedly asked the complainant to visit the ACR office on February 23, 2026, with cash or ready for bank transfer, warning that the file would not be processed otherwise.

The CBI verified the complaint through Inspector Surjit Singh. During verification, the accused allegedly reiterated his demand for the ₹2 lakh bribe. The FIR states that the allegations prima facie disclose commission of an offence under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (as amended in 2018).

The case has been entrusted for investigation to DSP Sunil Kumar Meena, CBI ACB Jammu.

No delay was reported in filing the complaint. The FIR was signed by Superintendent of Police K. Pradeep Kumar, CBI ACB Jammu.