Traffic on Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch highway was disrupted Friday when people staged a blockade near Nowshera after a whistleblower in an alleged scam pertaining to rent for defence land was found dead under mysterious circumstances on Thursday. The body of Pappi Chowdhary, 41, a resident of Sarya village in Nowshera, was found by police inside a park in posh Gandhi Nagar area. SHO, Gandhi Nagar, Sunil Singh, said there were no injury marks on the body. The auto-rickshaw Chowdhary plied was parked outside the park, he said. Family members of the dead claimed he had been murdered and that he had been receiving threat calls from people involved in the scam. They alleged that one of these callers is an employee of Irrigation and Flood Control Department and another a businessman. Chowdhary’s cousin Choudhary Chottu Ram, also an whistleblower in the matter, alleged the latest threat call had come after he, the dead and others met revenue officials and sought an inquiry into the alleged scam. The matter pertains to five dozen farmers living near the LoC in Nowshera, who receive rent from the Army for the past several decades for nearly 400 kanals of land which falls in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. It is alleged that some revenue and defence estate officials had been involved in irregularities in the rent payments. The matter was brought to light by Chottu Ram, Chowdhary and his brothers who are refugees from PoK. On the basis of their complaint, Chottu Ram said, revenue officials had stopped disbursement of Rs 4.33 crore among local residents as rent for their land. Tehsildar Suneet Kumar confirmed that Chottu Ram and some others had visited them, seeking a probe. Vigilance has already conducted a probe, he said, adding that even CBI officials have been visiting the area. As Chowdhury’s relatives sat on protest at Jammu-Rajouri road, senior officials from police and administration from Rajouri and Nowshera rushed to the spot. The protesters lifted the dharna after assurances of justice.
