ED attaches Rs 266 crore assets in Ranchi land scam

THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK

Ranchi, April 18: The Enforcement Directorate today said that it has provisionally attached tainted land parcels worth Rs. 266 crore in the land scam in Ranchi.

In a press release, the agency said it arrested four accused persons, namely Priya Ranjan Sahay, Irshad Akhtar, Antu Tirkey and Bipin Singh, in the case of Bhanu Pratap Prasad and Others. “In addition, one person, Afsar Ali, has also been arrested and taken into custody,” it added. The PMLA Court has remanded him to ED custody till April 22. In this case, another accused, Md. Saddam Hussain is already in ED custody till April 20.

Arrest for forging, tampering with, and fabricating land records

The ED has said that all six persons have been arrested for their role in forging, tampering with, and fabricating land records, thus changing the nature of lands designated as non-saleable under the CNT Act, legislation to protect the land rights of tribal and marginalised communities.

Also Read: ED attaches Rs 22.47 lakh assets of 2 executive engineers in Jharkhand

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The ED has said that 22 persons, including former Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Chhavi Ranjan, IAS (Ex-DC, Ranchi), Bhanu Pratap Prasad (Revenue Sub-Inspector), Amit Kumar Agarwal, Prem Prakash, etc., have been arrested so far. The ED has filed three prosecution complaints in the cases of land scams presently under investigation.

ED shares probe findings with Jharkhand govt

The ED said it has shared the investigation’s findings, including the land scam, with the Government of Jharkhand from time to time vide 14 references made under section 66 (2) of PMLA.

The ED has further said that the active involvement of the Land Revenue Department and government officials in Ranchi and Kolkata has also surfaced. “The investigation revealed that some of the lands acquired through such falsification and forgery by these accused persons are in the illegal possession of former Chief Minister Hemant Soren.

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The central agency, in the press release, has said Hemant Soren and Bhanu Pratap Prasad, a revenue official and custodian of original government records, were arrested for acquiring, possessing and concealing the proceeds of crime like an immovable property measuring 8.8 acres at Bariatu, Ranchi.

The ED has said that a prosecution complaint (equivalent to a chargesheet) was filed on March 30 against them and four other accused persons for aiding and abetting Hemant Soren in his unlawful acquisition and possession of the said property.

“The afore-said property worth Rs. 31 crore (govt value) was also provisionally attached by the ED. “Subsequently, Saddam Hussain was arrested on April 9 for involvement in forgery and falsification of land records,” the agency added.

ED probe based on FIRs by Jharkhand and Kolkata Police

The ED has initiated a money laundering investigation in five land scams with similar modus operandi based on multiple FIRs registered by the Jharkhand and Kolkata Police against several persons, including government officials.

“Investigation revealed that a racket of the land mafia is active in Jharkhand which is involved in tampering the land records in Ranchi and Kolkata. Original land records of ownerships are either tampered or concealed to facilitate unlawful acquisition/possession/use of landed properties. Subsequently, on the basis of forged land records, such land parcels are sold to other persons,” the agency said.

The ED had earlier carried out 51 searches and nine surveys in such cases, and incriminating evidence like forged seals of the Land¬ Revenue Department, forged land deeds, records of the distribution of Proceeds of Crime among them, photographs doing forgery, evidence of giving bribes to Government officials etc. were seized,” the ED said.

The ED said the raids resulted in the recovery and seizure of Rs.1.25 crore (approximately) of cash and the further freezing of Rs. 3.56 crore worth of balance in bank accounts.