GREATER NOIDA: A CBI team probing a Rs 126 crore land fraud in the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) area, was on Saturday morning beaten up allegedly by some family members of one of the accused in the case. A case has been registered against them and the matter is being investigated, said officers of Gautam Budh Nagar police.
According to CBI officials, a six-member team reached Sunpura village in Greater Noida on Saturday to carry out an investigation in a bribery case pertaining to the YEIDA area. The team, comprising an inspector, sub-inspector, two constables and a woman constable, had gone to the village in search of Sunil Dutt, an ASI of CBI academy.
The case pertains to the purchase of around 57 hectares of allegedly “useless” land in 2014 from seven villages of Mathura. The allegation is that land was bought directly from farmers at cheap rates. YEIDA then spent crores on acquiring the land to oblige some state officials and politicians. In doing so, the accused not only caused a loss to YEIDA but also made personal gains fraudulently.
So far, at least six people, including a retired IAS officer, an inspector in the anti-corruption branch in Ghaziabad, and a revenue officer have been arrested in the five-year-old case, in which 21 people are accused.
Dutt is one of the accused in an FIR registered in the case. He is accused of a “criminal conspiracy for obtaining undue advantage by the public servants for dishonest performance of duty, undue advantage to influence public servant by corrupt or illegal means and bribing of public servants”.
He has been charged under the Indian Penal Code section 120B (party to a criminal conspiracy), and the Prevention of Corruption Act. However, on reaching Dutt’s house, the team was attacked by members of his extended family and others to help him escape. The team was forced inside the premises and beaten. It is also alleged that a mobile phone, a diary, and ID cards of some team members were burnt. The team was kept hostage and thrashed, giving Dutt enough time to flee.
The team was rescued after local police received information and reached the spot. “The team was thereafter taken to a hospital. We have lodged a complaint with local police and an FIR has been registered in the matter,” a CBI official said.
“Some people have been taken into custody and further investigation is being carried out,” said Vineet Jaiswal, Superintendent of Police, Greater Noida.