Jammu, February 5: A brazen attempt to hoodwink the system has landed Afshan Shabir in hot water. The EOW Kashmir Crime Branch submitted a detailed chargesheet in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Srinagar, against the former assistant professor at SKIMS Soura for cheating and falsifying records to bag a state job.
Married to Syed Akil Ahmad and hailing from Shibath Zadibal, Afshan applied in 2019 masquerading as a local resident. Her application under in-service quota featured doctored papers, including a fake state subject certificate, projecting her as a bonafide Jammu and Kashmir permanent resident. Unbeknownst to recruiters, she was a UK national with an OCI card, disqualifying her outright.
The FIR under RPC sections 199 and 420 stemmed from a meticulous investigation. EOW teams pored over official documents, uncovering her pre-employment acquisition of British citizenship. In custody, she confessed to the dual identity ruse.
Government swiftly sacked her via an August 2022 order, recovering from the embarrassment. This chargesheet marks the culmination of probes that exposed how she profited from public trust, depriving deserving Indian citizens of opportunities.
Experts call this a wake-up call for digital verification systems in recruitments. As the case progresses, it could set precedents for handling foreign citizenship concealments in sensitive public roles.
