Jharkhand: ED attaches land parcels worth over Rs 161 cr in land fraud case

The Enforcement Directorate has attached three land parcels worth more than Rs 161 crore as part of an ongoing money laundering probe linked to a case of “land grabbing and fraud” in Jharkhand, the agency said, adding that it has also filed a fresh charge sheet in the case. The federal agency has summoned Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren for questioning in this case twice but he has not appeared before it and is understood to have filed a petition before the Supreme Court against the ED action. Soren is understood to have been issued a fresh summons for next week. However, there was no confirmation. Three land parcels at Cheshire Home Road, Pugru and Siram, all in Ranchi, with a commercial value of Rs 161.64 crore have been provisionally attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED said in a statement. These land parcels, it said, were “mutated fraudulently in favour of land mafias in connivance with the officers of the land revenue department”, it alleged. The agency has arrested 14 people in this case, including 2011-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Chhavi Ranjan who had earlier served as the director of the state social welfare department and the deputy commissioner of Ranchi. With inputs from PTI.