Raipur, March 16 (IANS) The ED attached movable and immovable properties worth Rs 23.35 crore in connection with a land acquisition compensation fraud related to the Raipur-Visakhapatnam National Highway project under the Bharatmala Pariyojana, an official said on Monday.
Investigation by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Raipur Zonal Office, revealed that a criminal conspiracy was hatched by land brokers, private persons, and certain public servants to fraudulently obtain excess and ineligible compensation in respect of land acquired for the construction of the Raipur-Visakhapatnam National Highway.
A total of Rs 27.05 crore was siphoned off by Harmeet Singh Khanuja and his associates, out of which Proceeds of Crime to the tune of Rs 23.35 crore have been traced and are being provisionally attached under the provisions of Section 5 of the PMLA, 2002, the ED said in a statement.
The properties worth Rs 23.35 crore have been attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The ED initiated an investigation based on the FIR registered by the Economic Offences Wing/Anti-Corruption Bureau, Chhattisgarh, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, the statement said.
Subsequently, a charge sheet was filed before the Hon'ble Special Court (PC Act), Raipur, against Harmeet Singh Khanuja and others in the said FIR.
Investigation revealed that as part of a criminal conspiracy, land parcels were fraudulently subdivided by falsifying and backdating revenue records after issuance of a notification dated January 30, 2020, by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, thereby inflating the compensation payable for the acquired land, the ED said.
Khanuja, in connivance with his associates, including Khemraj Koshle, Punuram Deshlahare, and Kundan Baghel, induced landowners to sign various documents, such as affidavits, applications, and revenue papers, and facilitated the fraudulent subdivision of land records with the assistance of certain government officials, the ED said.
Based on such manipulated records, compensation amounts significantly higher than the legitimate entitlement were disbursed, it said.
Further investigation revealed that multiple bank accounts were opened in the names of the landowners and compensation amounts were credited into these accounts, the statement said.
Thereafter, using pre-signed blank cheques and banking documents obtained from the landowners, a substantial portion of the compensation amount was transferred to the bank accounts of Khanuja, his relatives, associates, and entities controlled by him, while the landowners were left with only the eligible compensation or a marginally higher amount, the ED said.
--IANS
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