Enforcement Directorate raids several places in Manesar land deal case

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 25

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted searches at around 10 locations in Delhi and Haryana in connection with its money-laundering probe in the alleged irregularities in land acquisition in Manesar.

Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda is one of the accused in an FIR registered by the ED in September last year under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Sources said searches were carried out on the premises of some officers and builders. 

Confirming this, AK Rawal, an Assistant Director in the ED, told The Tribune that the raids were still in progress and the outcome will be known by the evening.

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The CBI had registered the case in September 2016 on the allegations that private builders in conspiracy with some public servants of the Haryana government had purchased around 400 acres of land from farmers and land owners of village Manesar, Naurangpur and Gurgaon at throwaway prices.

Later, the ED had also registered a PMLA the same month.

After registering the FIR, the CBI had carried out raids last year in Delhi, Gurgaon, Panchkula, Rohtak and Chandigarh, including Hooda’s residence and that of UPSC member Chattar Singh, who was CM’s additional private secretary during the Hooda government.

The 400 acres was allegedly bought between August 2004 and August 2007 by private builders at throwaway prices from farmers who were threatened with acquisition of their land by the government.

It was alleged that the then government adopted a modus operandi of first issuing notifications with the intent to acquire land for public purpose, creating a sense of fear among the farmers that they would end up getting low compensation.

The builders used this to trap farmers to sell their land at much lower than the market price. The notifications were cancelled soon after the land was acquired.

The Manesar land deal was alleged to be the most striking case with the government withdrawing two land-acquisition notifications in August 2007 for 680 acres after almost completing the acquisition process once the farmers had sold their land to farmers at throwaway prices.

On May 15, the CBI had quizzed Hooda in Chandigarh in this case.

Later, Hooda had alleged that the BJP government in Haryana had unleashed a political vendetta against Opposition leaders to divert people’s attention from its failures.