Vaishno Devi fake silver row: Court seeks detailed probe report, orders evidence preservation

The Jammu Chief Judicial Magistrate has taken decisive action by ordering the preservation of evidence in a troubling case of fake silver offerings amounting to Rs 550 crore.

In response to a petition seeking to secure all relevant physical and electronic evidence, the court acknowledged allegations of adulteration and pilferage concerning around twenty tonnes of silver.

JAMMU: Jammu Chief Judicial Magistrate Munish Kumar Manhas, while hearing the case of alleged Rs 550 crore fake silver offerings at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Ji shrine last week, directed Deputy SP Bhawan, Katra, to submit a detailed inquiry report and ordered the preservation of evidence on the next date of hearing.The CJM’s orders came on July 29 following a petition filed by advocate Deepak Sharma seeking urgent preservation of all physical, documentary, and electronic evidence linked to the controversy alleging adulteration, substitution, pilferage and suspected misappropriation of approximately 20 tonnes of silver offerings devotees had made to the shrine.Join conversation Share your thoughts in the comments Be respectful · TOI community guidelines The petitioner also sought safeguarding of the remaining silver or purported silver articles, samples, remnants, and residues, along with stock and vault records, weighing and dispatch registers, assay and laboratory reports, govt mint records, transportation documents and the complete chain-of-custody record.

He sought protection of CCTV footage, electronic inventory data, official emails, server logs, access records, audit trails, accounting records, reconciliation statements and other digital evidence linked to the alleged scam.On May 9, Sharma submitted a complaint to IGP (crime branch) Jammu and SSP (crime branch, EOW) Jammu.

The crime branch received the complaint on May 11 and forwarded it to its HQ on May 20 for further action.

Crime branch HQ approved its reference to Zonal Police HQ on June 9, following which it was sent to IGP (Jammu) on June 13.The SSP said the case was currently in the inquiry stage, and no FIR had been registered yet.The CJM posted the next hearing on Aug 18.