The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth about ₹67 crore in connection with the Manesar land acquisition scam in Haryana.
The properties include 14.56 acres in Gurugram belonging to Mahamaya Exports Private Limited, besides four acres and bank balances of other accused persons. The ED had made an attachment worth Rs.42.19 crore in December last.
The money laundering case is based on an FIR registered by the police in August 2015. The CBI later took over the case and filed a charge sheet against former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and 33 others.
According to the probe agencies, the State government issued notifications in 2004 and 2005 for acquisition of land measuring 912 acres to set up an industrial model township.
It is alleged that the farmers and landowners of Manesar villages in Naurangpur and Lakhnaula were compelled to sell about 400 acres to private builders at throwaway prices under the threat of acquisition. This allegedly caused a loss of about Rs.1,500 crore to them.
According to the ED, ABW Infrastructure and its group entities allegedly bought most of the land in question. As alleged, it got licences for residential, commercial and group housing projects in connivance with government officials.
The ED has also alleged that ABW sold some licences at high rates and earned “undue” profits. The group companies entered into “false” land sale agreements with different entities to conceal the income and avoid tax.
The agreements were later cancelled, false cancellation-cum-settlement agreements prepared and amounts to the extent of six to seven times of the sum as per the agreements-to-sell were shown to have been paid to these entities in compensation for cancelling them.
The compensation was credited to the bank accounts of these entities and taken back in cash, the ED has said.
