Officials detained for bribery in Namangan district (video)

Illegal activities involving officials of the Specialized State Forestry Enterprise in Pop district of Namangan region have been uncovered, the State Security Service reported.

According to the information, an interagency working group formed in early January conducted inspections in areas under the jurisdiction of the Pop Specialized State Forestry Enterprise to assess the targeted use of forestry land.

The inspections revealed that due to negligence on the part of the enterprise’s officials, five entrepreneurs leasing forestry land had illegally constructed buildings and facilities without obtaining permits from relevant authorities and had arbitrarily changed the designated use of the land plots. As a result, serious damage was caused to state interests.

In addition, the failure to collect lease payments from 460 tenants led to losses amounting to 1.48 billion soums to the state.

Furthermore, forestry officials, acting in collusion with certain tenants, illegally extracted a total of 5,356 cubic meters of non-metallic materials between 2023 and 2025, causing damage to the state estimated at 1.322 billion soums.

During an оператив operation, the head forester of a department within the Pop Specialized State Forestry Enterprise was caught red-handed while receiving USD 15,000 in exchange for arranging the registration of a 20 sotix land plot, previously part of the enterprise’s balance and later transferred to the district administration’s reserve, as residential land for a resident of Chust district through intermediaries.

The operation was subsequently continued, during which a specialist of the Pop district branch of the State Cadastral Chamber was detained while receiving USD 500 from the same amount.

Criminal cases have been initiated against these individuals under Article 168 (fraud) of the Criminal Code, and investigative actions are currently underway.

At the same time, the acting director of the Pop Specialized State Forestry Enterprise was detained while receiving USD 5,000 in advance after demanding USD 10,000 in exchange for leasing a 50 sotix land plot from the enterprise’s balance to a local entrepreneur in violation of procedures requiring electronic online auctions.

A criminal case has been opened against him under Article 168, Part 3, subparagraph “v” of the Criminal Code, and an investigation is in progress.

It was noted that despite having been previously convicted multiple times, the official failed to make proper use of the opportunities granted to him.

It is worth noting that earlier in Pop district of Namangan region, an assistant to the hokim attempted to sell 90 sotix of state reserve land for USD 4,500.