(Image source from: Deccanchronicle.com)

Telangana Deputy CM Orders Probe Into Irregularities At 3 Dargahs:- The Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali has ordered an inquiry into the irregularities reported at three dargahs in the State. This move of the Deputy CM comes in wake of the scams and discrepancies in the activities of the Telangana State Wakf Board.

The probe will be conducted by Mr. Syed Omer Jaleel, special secretary of the minorities Welfare Department. He will further submit a report to the government.

Following reports that the Wakf Board has ignored the rules, while handling over the hundi collections of the Jahangeer Peeran dargah of Kothur, the Dargah Hazrath Janpahad Shaheed, and the Dargah Arvapally of Suryapet, the inquiry has been ordered.

According to sources, the Jahangir Peeran dargah last year earned Rs1.62 crore in hundi collections and other sources, while the Dargah Hazrath Janpahad Shaheed earned Rs 82 lakh. To make the hundi collections, the board nominated some persons this year. It even asked them to pay Rs 96 lakh and Rs 20 lakh respectively.

“Discrepancies have been noted in the manner in which contracts were given out. Officials gave the contracts on the basis of nominations, instead of through a tender process. An inquiry will reveal if there were irregularities, and the culprits will be nailed,” said the Deputy Chief Minister.

Chief Executive Officer of the Wakf Board, Mr. M.A. Mannan Farooqui said the contracts for the two dargahs did not include the hundi collections. Mr Mohd Saleem, chairman of the TS Wakf Board, said, “There are court orders against auctioning of the hundi, so we did not include them in the contracts. There are no discrepancies.” Mr Mahmood Ali said contracts would be canceled if discrepancies were found.

Seniority holds up probe for 4 years

The inquiry ordered by the TS Wakf Board into the irregularities reported in the past four years has not yet started. A motion ordering the inquiry into activities has been unanimously passed by the board, from the time of the Board’s dissolution four years ago until the election of a new Board eight months ago. Its functioning was managed by a special officer, in the absence of an elected board. Mr Syed Omer Jaleel, special secretary, minorities welfare department, Mr Mohammed Asadullah, a senior official of the revenue department, and Mr M.J. Akbar, of the Indian Forest Service, held this post.

Following complaints regarding irregularities committed in the absence of an elected board, the inquiry was ordered over a month ago. It was to have been conducted by Mr M.A. Mannan Farooqui, chief executive officer the TS Wakf Board. As all the three officers are senior to Mr Farooqui, the inquiry has not yet started. It is learnt that he plans to ask the board to assign the task to some other official. The senior officers would not be probed, said Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali recently.

Social activist Ather Moin demanded that all officials should be probed. “If they are clean, let them face an inquiry,” he said.

SUPRAJA