SOPORE, AUG 14 (KNS) : A fresh controversy has engulfed Asia’s second-largest fruit mandi in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, with a newly-formed traders’ body accusing the administration of circulating a “bogus” list of beneficiaries for Shed No. 16 without any official sanction. The charges have been met with a sharp rebuttal from the Area Marketing Officer (AMO), who has dismissed the list as a mere “temporary” arrangement.
The Kashmir Fruit Traders Association, led by Zahoor Ahmad Bhat, on Friday held a press conference here, training its guns on the mandi administration over what it called a “blatant misuse of official position.” Bhat claimed that the list—containing 73 names—was conspicuously devoid of a letterhead, dispatch number, or any official stamp from the AMO’s office, rendering it “fake” in the eyes of the law.
“This document was floated without any order or approval to serve private, monetary interests. It is a clear case of corruption and financial misappropriation,” Bhat told reporters, further alleging that funds earmarked for infrastructure and trader welfare were being siphoned off for personal gains by the current management.
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However, AMO Mushtaq Ahmad moved swiftly to douse the flames, categorically refuting the allegations and terming the list a “non-final, temporary” measure. He maintained that the signboards erected at Shed No. 16 had already been removed, adding that the administration follows due process in all its decisions.
“Anyone can level allegations; that does not make them true. Until proven, they remain just that—allegations. We have only one registered association, and every decision is taken after proper consideration and as per rules,” Ahmad asserted while speaking to KNS.
Significantly, this is not the first time that the Sopore fruit mandi has found itself in the crosshairs of investigative agencies. The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had previously registered a case against a former AMO and 48 others over alleged irregularities in the allotment of shops at the very same mandi, raising fresh questions about the transparency of its operations even as the latest row threatens to escalate into a full-blown administrative crisis. (KNS).