The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches at eight locations in Rajasthan as part of its investigations into an alleged land scam in Bikaner.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches at eight locations in Rajasthan as part of its investigations into an alleged land scam in Bikaner.
Sources said searches were conducted at several places in Bikaner and adjoining areas. The agency said the premises of 10 people, including some retired government officials, were brought under the action.
“The ED conducted searches at eight premises in Bikaner and nearby areas, belonging to accused Jay Prakash Bagadwa, Ranjeet Singh, Kishore Singh, Gugan Gir and certain government officials, including retired ones like Faqir Mohd, Uma Charan, Deeparam and Mahavir Swamy in the case of Kolayat land scam,” an ED statement said.
The teams examined documents allegedly related to a Haryana-based real-estate firm, which purchased lands, and also quizzed some people.
The ED recently registered a money laundering case against certain real estate developers and Rajasthan government officials to probe a land scam in Bikaner.
The agency picked up the case based on 18 FIRs filed by the state police in August last year after the local tehsildar had made a complaint.
A criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was registered by the ED. Sources further said the agency has taken cognisance of the earlier media reports also that had referred to a real estate firm which had allegedly purchased some of these lands.
The Rajasthan government had in January 2015 cancelled the mutation (transfer of land) of 374.44 hectares of land, after the land department claimed to have found that the allotments were made in the names of illegal private persons. Sources said the agency suspects that a huge amount of money was laundered in this case by people buying land at cheap prices through forged documents. The state government, while cancelling the mutations, had said that these were not issued by the commissioner, colonisation, Bikaner.
