CBI registers four FIRs, searches 40 locations
Several of these locations were in Lucknow, Delhi, Kolkata and Barabanki districts
LUCKNOW: The CBI has registered four FIRs in connection with irregularities pertaining to enemy property in leasing out over 100 acres of prime commercial land in Uttar Pradesh at nominal rates by showing these as ponds, officials said.
The agency also conducted searches at 40 locations of 53 accused. Several of the locations were in Lucknow, Delhi, Kolkata and Barabanki.
The officials said the alleged irregularity is related to enemy properties, which were left behind by those who took citizenship of China and Pakistan, in Lucknow, Barabanki and Sitapur. Enemy properties are currently vested with the Custodian of Enemy Property of India (CEPI). Two of the cases were registered at CBI’s anticorruption bureau unit in Lucknow.
The CBI has recovered ₹82 lakh cash from the house of a property dealer Anup Roy, one of the alleged beneficiaries in the allotment of enemy property in Lucknow.
A senior CBI official said the searches were being conducted on premises of the accused, including public servants and beneficiaries (private persons).
He further stated that the first case was registered at CBI’s ACB, Lucknow, on the basis of a written complaint by Abhishek Agarwal, the assistant custodian of enemy property, ministry of home affairs ( MHA), Lucknow against Samandar Singh Rana, the then officiating custodian of enemy property for government of India, Utpal Chakraborty, the then officiating assistant custodian of enemy property, Lucknow and Ramesh Chandra Tewari, the then supervisor/ chief supervisor, assistant custodian of enemy property, Lucknow and nine beneficiaries (private persons) in the matter.
They were booked under IPC sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating) and 471 (forgery) and provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act related to bribery, according to the news agency PTI.
He said the beneficiaries named in the first FIR are Sunil Kumar Bajpayee, Om Prakash Singh, Gyanendra Tiwari, Jainuddin Mohammed Siddique, Umair Sivaz, Bilal Ahmed, Diwakar Chandra, Rudresh Pandey and Vinay Srivastava.
He said the accused caused a huge loss to the Central government by leasing out prime commercial land in Sitapur and Barabanki districts at nominal rates in favour of lessees by manipulating and forging the documents during the period 2019-22.
In Sitapur, the enemy properties were allotted at Ghamora village of Mahmoodabad tehsil and Saraija village of Khairabad
In Lucknow, the allotment was done at Naubasta and Khakra villages of Malihabad tehsil, Ajmat Nagar village of Kakori Tehsil and Juggaur village of Sadar Tehsil, Lucknow. The beneficiaries named in the second FIR are Avinash Chandra Tiwari, Ram Pratap Singh, Babu Lal,
Swapna Singh, Sivaz Iqbal and Anup Roy.
The second FIR also alleged leases were regularised without the approval of the Central government, by waiving lease rental arrears, unauthorised out of court settlements and other illegal means, causing loss of revenue to the government.
tehsil. In Barabanki, the enemy properties were allotted at Bhuhera, Tikaria and Bhan Mau villages of Nawabganj tehsil.
The official said the second case was registered against the same public servants and six other beneficiaries ( private persons) for causing huge loss to the government by leasing out prime commercial land in Lucknow district at nominal rates in favour of lessees by manipulating and forging the documents during the period 2016-22.
In Lucknow, the allotment was done at Naubasta and Khakra villages of Malihabad tehsil, Ajmat Nagar village of Kakori Tehsil and Juggaur village of Sadar Tehsil, Lucknow. The beneficiaries named in the second FIR are Avinash Chandra Tiwari, Ram Pratap Singh, Babu Lal, Swapna Singh, Sivaz Iqbal and Anup Roy.
The second FIR also alleged leases were regularised without the approval of the Central government, by waiving lease rental arrears, unauthorised out of court settlements and other illegal means, causing loss of revenue to the government. Prior approval against the public servants has also been granted by the competent authority.
Enemy properties vested with CEPI are the left behind assets of Indians who took Chinese and Pakistani nationality after wars with these countries. The government took over these properties under The Defence of India Act, 1962 after their migration and change in nationality.
“A property of an individual or a company recorded in the name of an enemy, enemy subject or enemy firm at the crucial vesting period i. e. from September 10, 1965 to September 26, 1977 is treated as an enemy property strictly as per procedures laid down in the Enemy property Rules, 2015,” according to the Home Ministry’s website. Properties of Chinese and Pakistani national/ companies were vested with the CEPI as enemy properties, it adds.