RANCHI: In a major crackdown, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out searches in multiple locations across Jharkhand and Bihar on April 22 in connection with the Bokaro forest land scam.
ED conducted raids at locations, including the Bokaro Forest Department office, CO office and Hariom Tower located in Lalpur, Kanke and Hatia in Ranchi.
Searches were also carried out at the residential and official locations of businessmen Vimal Agarwal and Puneet Agarwal, including their construction firm, Rajveer Construction in Ranchi.
Both individuals are associated with Baba Baidyanath Medical Trust and were previously targeted in a GST raid on September 26, 2023.
As per the information, the ED launched an early morning raid across 15 locations in Jharkhand and Bihar as part of its ongoing probe into a major money laundering case linked to illegal acquisition of forest land in Bokaro district of Jharkhand.
Simultaneously, ED officials also conducted raids at the offices of Manmohan Construction, the Forest Department, the Deputy Commissioner, and the Zonal Registration Office in Bokaro.
Residences of several landowners, including Izhar Hussain, Rehmat Hussain, Akhtar Hussain, and others, were also searched.
These searches are part of the agency’s broader investigation into the purchase and sale of a disputed 74.38-acre plot of land.
It is alleged that the land mafia handed over the land to a private company in connivance with the administrative officials.
Individuals associated with Umayush Multicom Private Limited, which bought the land, are also being investigated.
The land in question is currently embroiled in a legal dispute. The Forest Department claims it is classified as protected forest land, while the buyers argue that their ancestors legally purchased the plot during a government auction in 1933 under British rule.
Due to contradictory claims made by the state government and the Forest Department in the High Court and Supreme Court, two Indian Forest Service officers have been held guilty of contempt of court Investigation revealed that in the year 2013, the forest department plot of Chas police station area was registered as old fallow land.
Followingly, a case was filed and the investigation began.
At the same time, considering the seriousness of the forest land scam, the CID has also started an investigation on the instructions of Jharkhand DGP Anurag Gupta.