Hoshiarpur land scam: ED attaches ₹37cr properties of five accused

CASE FILE Accused bought notified land from farmers in name of relatives at throwaway prices during acquisition, sold it to govt at higher rates; 60 properties, including 54 vacant plots, have been attached

: The enforcement directorate (ED) has ordered the attachment of properties worth Rs 37 crore owned by five main accused in the Hoshiarpur land scam. In June 2016, Hindustan Times was the first to report the scam when land was being acquired to build a bypass on the Hoshiarpur-Chintpurni highway. Then chief minister Parkash Singh Badal ordered a vigilance probe after which a case was registered against 11 accused on February 10, 2017. They included then Hoshiarpur sub divisional magistrate (SDM) Anand Sagar Sharma.

He was the land collector for the acquisition.

The ED’s Jalandhar zonal office issued the attachment orders on September 18 under the Money Laundering Act. The ED had asked the local revenue department to freeze their properties in February.

The accused are Shiromani Akali Dal councillor Harpinder Singh Gill, district co-operative bank chairman Satwinderpal Singh Dhatt, former market committee chairman Avtar Singh Johal and local businessmen Parteek Gupta and Jaswinderpal Singh. Sixty properties belonging to them, including 54 vacant plots, three business premises and three houses, have been attached.

The Akali leaders and land sharks in alleged connivance with the SDM bought the notified land in the names of their relatives from farmers at throwaway prices during the acquisition process and sold the land to the government at higher rates.

Taking suo motu action, the ED registered a money-laundering case on June 5, 2017.

Sharing the reasons behind the move to attach the properties of the main accused, ED officials said investigation showed criminality on two counts. “The first finding was that the sale-purchase of the land by private persons in a notified area was allowed, which is otherwise prohibited. The second is about paying excess compensation for land acquisition by showing it as commercial despite it being notified as agricultural,” says a senior ED official privy to the probe.

The accused got excess compensation of Rs 37 crore, the ED says. Of this amount, the accused used a part to repay their loans and the rest was diverted to their business concerns. That amount was used to repay creditors and meet business expenses.

The role of the then SDM can't be ascertained at this stage as the vigilance bureau is yet to file the chargesheet despite investigation for more than 18 months, the ED official says.