Around 60 properties belonging to the accused have been attached by the Enforcement Directorate. (Representational) Around 60 properties belonging to the accused have been attached by the Enforcement Directorate. (Representational) In the Rs 58-crore Hoshiarpur Land scam case, the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) Jalandhar Zonal Office has issued a Provisional Attachment order whereby immovable properties approximately worth Rs 37 crore of the five accused, including three Hoshiarpur-based SAD leaders, have been attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The three SAD leaders are Satwinder Pal Singh Dhath, Avtar Singh Johal, and Harpinder Singh Gill, while the other two are Jaspinder Pal Singh and Prateik Gupta, who are reported to be closely linked to a BJP leader in Hoshiarpur. Around 60 properties belonging to the accused — 54 vacant plots, three business premises and three residential houses, have been attached by the Enforcement Directorate. Further investigations are on. The ED said that the role of then SDM, who was the competent authority for land acquisition, was yet to be “crystallized” In the investigation, it has come into light that criminality has happened mainly on two counts — sale-purchase of the land by the private persons being allowed in the notified area which otherwise was prohibited after the issuance of the notification by the government to acquire the land and, secondly, the private parties named in the FIR were paid undue and excess compensation by the Competent Authority for Land Acquisition against acquisition of land on residential rates despite the fact that the type of land mentioned in the notifications was agricultural. “In this manner the said private parties got undue and excess compensation which together amounted to Rs 37 crore. Out of the compensation amount received, the accused utilised some part for repayment of their loans and rest of the funds were diverted to their business concerns which were further utilised for repayment to creditors and other business expenses,” revealed investigation. The investigation in the case was taken up by ED, Jalandhar Zonal Office on the basis of case FIR registered by Vigilance Bureau, Punjab, under Prevention of Corruption Act in February, 2017 in connection with acquisition of land by the government in district Hoshiarpur, against 13 persons including SDM. In this regard, National Highway Authority of India, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had issued notification under section 3 (A) dated 24.06.2015 for public to know its intention to acquire the land, the description/type of land and details of owners of land and for calling of objections, if any, from the interested parties/ owners. After resolving the issues and objections, if any, the notification under section 3(D) was issued on 01.11.2015. The land was purchased despite the notification. The alleged land scam happened in 2016 when the land was acquired for Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur four-laning project. The matter was first brought to light by the RTI activist Rajiv Vashisht. For all the latest Chandigarh News, download Indian Express App

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