CBI chargesheets Hooda, officials in Manesar land scam

Alleging a multi-crore scam of prime land in Manesar in Haryana's realty goldmine district Gurugram, the CBI on Friday filed a chargesheet in the land deal against former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, senior bureaucrats and others in a court in Panchkula adjoining Chandigarh.

The Central Bureau of Investigation filed the chargesheet against 34 accused, including Hooda, senior bureaucrats Chhattar Singh, S.S. Dhillon and M.L. Tayal and the promoter of the Gurgaon-based real estate company ABW Builders, Atul Bansal.

All three officers were powerful Principal Secretaries to the Chief Minister.

The CBI officials from Delhi brought documents related to the land scam in two almirahs.

The CBI registered a case against the accused in September 2015 following allegations that private builders, in conspiracy with public servants of the Haryana government, bought around 400 acres of land from farmers and landowners of Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnoula villages in Gurugram (then Gurgaon) district at throwaway prices.

The land was valued, at the time, at around Rs 1,600 crore but was bought by the builder for around Rs 100 crore.

The land was bought between August 2004 and August 2007. The Congress government in Haryana, led by Hooda, remained in power from March 2005 to October 2014.

The CBI alleged that ABW Builders conspired with officers during the tenure of the previous Congress government to purchase the land.

--IANS

js/him/mr