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Srinagar, Jun 4 (UNI) The Jammu and Kashmir Vigilance Organisation has unearthed a scandal of Rs one crore in the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department in Handwara and arrested two officials, including an Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE), an official spokesman said today.

He said following a probe into the misappropriation of pipes costing Rs one crore in the PHE Division at Handwara in north Kashmir, the Vigilance Organisation registered a case and arrested AEE Zafar Ahmad Faktoo and another official Manzoor Ahmad Hajam. The preliminary probe by the Vigilance Organisation revealed that a shopkeeper, in connivance with the AEE in-charge of stores and also the stock assistant working in the office of the PHE Executive Engineer, Handwara division, manipulated records such as indents submitted by junior engineers, the spokesman added.

The officials on many occasions did not mention store items, he said, adding it was also found that they forged indents submitted by junior engineers by making false entries in the stock register.

As per the investigations, the amount of misappropriation runs into more than Rs one crore between 2003-05, the spokesman said.

UNI AG LR HT1240