JK Peace Forum, an organisation of Kashmiri Pandits, on Tuesday filed a criminal complaint addressed to ADGP (Kashmir) alleging criminal involvement in usurping the land belonging to a temple in Srinagar.

The complaint has sought lodging of an FIR against those allegedly involved in illegal use of Durga Nag Temple property worth crores.

The complainant has accused the lessee of the temple land for sub-lease which is illegal under the law and thereafter, the complainant accuses Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC), a local bank and the final beneficiaries who have allegedly benefitted from illegal transfer of land into different hands till commercial structures came up on the temple land.

The complaint has also referred to the observations of the Srinagar Development Authority (SDA) which, according to the complainant, held that the sub-lease of the land had been illegal.

The complaint accuses the management of the Durga Nag Temple, Revenue Department, SMC and the J&K Bank for allegedly aiding and abetting illegal activities that violated established laws and led to transfer of endowment property owned by the “deity” of the shrine to the third parties and the unauthorised construction of commercial structures on those properties, including hotels, motels and commercial complexes.

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