Manesar land scam: ED seizes luxury cars, servers, project files from TDI Group premises
ED had earlier named TDI Group chairperson Ravinder Taneja and TDI Infrastructure Ltd as accused in a supplementary chargesheet in the case
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has seized luxury cars, servers and dozens of project files from premises linked to TDI Group chairperson Ravinder Taneja in the Rs 1,500-crore Manesar land scam case in Gurugram.
The ED's statement released on Friday does not name former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and the searches carry no allegation against him. His role is part of the CBI case from which the agency's money-laundering probe stems.
In its statement, the ED's Chandigarh Zone-I said searches began on September 28 and ran for over three days at business and residential premises in Delhi and Mohali.
Taneja is chairperson of TDI Group and managing director of companies including TDI Infratech Ltd and TDI Infrastructure Ltd.
The agency said it seized dozens of project files, digital devices, computers, hard disks, servers and luxury vehicles identified as “proceeds of crime”.
It added that records on alleged irregularities in other projects also surfaced and are being examined. Reports citing the agency put the vehicles' value at about Rs 8 crore.
What the ED alleges against TDI Group
The ED says over 400 acres of notified land in Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnaula villages of Gurugram district were bought from farmers at throwaway prices by private builders and intermediaries who feared acquisition. The acquisition was later allowed to lapse, and the land was resold at far higher prices.
It identifies TDI Group as one such intermediary. Between 2005 and 2007, it says, the group used three companies — Indo Asian Construction Co Pvt Ltd, NCR Properties Pvt Ltd and Divya Jyoti Enterprises Pvt Ltd — to buy nearly 33 acres and sell it to builder Atul Bansal's ABWIL group at high profits.
Hooda and Manesar land scam: What the CBI case says
The Haryana government, then led by Hooda, notified 912 acres in Manesar, Lakhnaula and Naurangpur in August 2004 for an Industrial Model Township. The CBI alleges that over 400 acres, worth more than Rs 4 crore an acre, were bought for about Rs 100 crore, causing a loss of roughly Rs 1,500 crore to Haryana farmers.
The CBI registered its case in September 2015 and filed a chargesheet in February 2018 against Hooda, senior bureaucrats and builders.
A special CBI court in Panchkula framed charges in December 2020 against Hooda and 38 others, including Bansal, who was declared a proclaimed offender. Hooda has denied wrongdoing, calling the case political vendetta.
The ED had earlier named Taneja and TDI Infrastructure Ltd as accused in a supplementary chargesheet in the same case. The agency said the examination of the seized records and assets is under way and depends on the future course of the investigation.
