The Anti-Corruption Bureau on Saturday registered a case against Srinagar Deputy Mayor Sheikh Imran and officials of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank for allegedly misappropriating crores of rupees from the public exchequer, PTI reported.

Imran, director of the Kehwa Group of Companies, had submitted a proposal to the Jammu and Kashmir Bank to set up a storage facility under the name of Kehwa Square Pvt Ltd in Pulwama, the bureau spokesperson said. The Anti-Corruption Bureau team, which visited the site, said the cost of the project pegged at Rs 33 crore was inflated.

The proposal was approved by the empowered monitoring committee of Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture. The subsidy component, released by the state government, was calculated at Rs 16.50 crore.

The investigation also revealed that the Kahwa Group owned six more firms and that Imran has raised loans/overdrafts for these units. “The liabilities on account of loan accumulated to Rs 138 crore,” a spokesperson for the bureau said. “Since, one of the company Kehwa Square had turned non-performing asset, Imran sought one-time settlement with J&K Bank authorities.”

Imran and his business partners also wanted the storage facility to be declared as an NPA without paying any installment to the bank on the loan they had taken. The plan was executed with the help of officials of the J&K Bank, the bureau claimed.