Express News Service
RANCHI: RANCHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday provisionally attached three land
parcels worth Rs 161.64 crore located in Ranchi in connection with the land scam case. These land parcels were mutated fraudulently in favour of land mafias in connivance with the officers of the Land Revenue Department.
This is the second attachment order issued in this case and with the latest action, the total attachment of properties is valued at Rs 236 crore. The attached land parcels are located at Cheshire Home Road, Pugru, and Siram, all in Ranchi.
Meanwhile, the ED also filed another prosecution complaint in the land scam case against ex-Ranchi DC Chhavi Ranjan, businessman Bishnu Agarwal, and others. Earlier, a prosecution complaint in this case had been filed on June 12.
According to an official communiqué, issued by ED had initiated an investigation into three land scam cases on the basis of multiple FIRs registered by the Jharkhand Police and the West Bengal Police against Pradip Bagchi, Bishnu Kumar Agarwal, Bhanu Pratap Prasad and others under various sections of IPC.
ED investigation revealed that a huge racket of illegal change of ownership of land by the mafia is going on in Jharkhand. “These criminal elements used to forge the legacy records in Kolkata and Ranchi,” said the official communiqué. It is also revealed that ownership records of land have also been forged by unscrupulous government officers to extend favors to the said land mafia, it added.
It further added that on the basis of forged land records, those land parcels were sold to other persons. ED had earlier carried out 41 searches and 5 surveys in this matter and various incriminating evidence such as forged seals of Land Revenue Department, forged land deeds; records of the distribution of Proceeds of Crime, photographs of forgery, evidence of giving bribes to the Government officials, etc. were seized, it added.
Earlier, ED had provisionally attached three land parcels worth Rs. 74.39 Crore (Commercial Value) in another land scam case. With the current attachment, the total attachment in land scam cases reached to Rs 236 Crore.
To date, 14 accused namely Pradip Bagchi, Afshar Ali, Saddaam Hussain, Imtiaz Ahmed, Talha Khan, Faiyaaz Khan, Bhanu Pratap Prasad, Chhavi Ranjan, IAS (Ex DC Ranchi), Dilip Kumar Ghosh, Amit Kumar Agarwal, Bishnu Kumar Agarwal, Rajesh Rai, Bharat Prasad and Prem Prakash have been arrested and are presently in Judicial custody.
Earlier a Prosecution Complaint was filed on 12.06.2023. Further investigation is under progress.
