Srinagar: A middle-rung officer of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) who was probing multiple scams in Jammu and Kashmir was killed reportedly in a road accident, officials said on Saturday (April 27), prompting the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to demand a probe into the incident.
According to reports, the CBI officer – identified as Prashant Sharma, a deputy superintendent of police – was returning home from his office in the intervening night of Friday and Saturday when his motorcycle lost balance on the Banihal Cart Road outside a private school in Jammu city.
The accident, which took place at around 11:50 pm on Friday when it was reportedly raining in Jammu city, resulted in critical injuries to the officer.
Reports said that Sharma, a resident of Mandlik Nagar in Jammu’s Paloura area, lost control while negotiating a speed-breaker on the way to his home.
A senior police officer said that Sharma had suffered critical injuries on his head.
Sources said that a passerby saw the officer lying on the road in an injured condition and took him to the Government Medical College (GMC) in Jammu for treatment.
One report suggested that the officer was riding a Royal Enfield motorcycle without a helmet when the accident occurred. However, The Wire couldn’t independently verify the report.
In the meantime, Sharma’s family was informed about the accident, following which they reached the hospital.
“Sharma passed away while he was being shifted to a hospital in Punjab for specialised treatment by his family,” sources said.
Sharma’s post-mortem examination was carried out at GMC Jammu, following which his body was handed to his legal heirs.
In a statement, a Jammu and Kashmir police spokesperson said: “On 26-04-2024 at about 2357 hrs, Dy. SP Prashant Sharma (posted in CBI Jammu) age 52 yrs S/O Dharam Pal Sharma R/O Paloura, Jammu was admitted in GMC Jammu due to RTA at Jewel (Bullet motorcycle skidded off), further referred to DMC Ludhiana, Punjab where he died on way. Dead body shifted to GMC Jammu for medico-legal formalities”.
Sharma was leading the investigations into multiple scams in Jammu and Kashmir that have surfaced in the last four years following the reading down of Article 370 in 2019.
These include the irregularities in the appointment of sub-inspectors (SI) and junior engineers (JE) in the Union Territory administration.
The SI and JE selection lists were later scrapped.
Senior PDP leader and former minister in Jammu and Kashmir, Naeem Akhtar, demanded a probe into the incident.
“The PDP calls for impartial, time bound and credible investigation. Given the fact that the Late Dy SP [deputy superintendent] has been investigating very crucial cases, there should be no room for doubts about circumstances. We express our deepest sympathies with the family of the deceased officer,” he said.
Jammu-based journalist Tarun Upadhyay said that Sharma was probing important cases, including the paper leak scam involving the recruitment of sub-inspectors the in Jammu and Kashmir police.
“Prashant Sharma, DySP, CBI Jammu who has investigated Sub-Insp, JE and other FIRs died in road accident last evening near Bus Stand Jammu. He was also investigating case registered against IAS officer Navin Choudhary,” Tarun posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Chaudhary was booked by the CBI for alleged irregularities in the award of a Rs 4,287 crore contract for the construction of the Kiru hydropower project, which is coming up in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Former governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satya Pal Malik, has also been questioned by the agency in the case.
Sharma was also part of a CBI team that had investigated the misappropriation of loans worth Rs 73 crore availed from Bank of India’s Satwari branch in Jammu by the Jammu and Kashmir-based Jhelum Industries Private Limited and Jhelum Infrastructure Projects Private Limited.
The Union territory administration handed over the investigations into scams in recruitment exams conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir Service Selection Board to the CBI.
