ED attaches Rs 1.18-crore assets in Bikaner land scam

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth Rs 1.18 crore in connection with a land scam in Kolayat town in Rajasthan's Bikaner district, an official said on Thursday.

The agency attached movable and immovable properties of a private person, Jai Prakash Bagarwa, and Rajasthan government officials, identified as Uma Charan Sharma, Fakir Mohammad and Mahaveer Swami, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

"The government officials had fraudulently allotted government land on the basis of forged allotment letters in the name of non-existent persons. The land was meant for allotment to the displaced persons of Mahajan Field Firing Range in Kolayat," the official said.

A total of 18 FIRs were registered by the Rajasthan Police during August-September 2014 and the chargesheet was filed in August 2015.

The Directorate took over the case in September 2015.

In its investigation, the agency found that two private persons -- Ranjit Singh and Jai Prakash -- had stolen some blank allotment letters with stamp on them from Bikaner Colonisation Department with a view to grabbing the government land.

"The stolen material was used for preparing forged allotment letters in the name of the allegedly displaced persons of the Mahajan Field Firing Range.

"On the basis of these forged letters, a total of 1,422 bigha (228.31 hectares) land was recorded in the Revenue Department records in the name of these fictitious persons without due verification of these letters," the official said.

"The accused later managed to sell 1,372 bigha (220.28 hectare) land to various individuals and companies and generated proceeds of crime," he added.

The agency said it recovered various incriminating documents during searches on various premises of the key persons and their associates and it was learnt that the illegally-earned money was used for investment in movable and immovable properties.

--IANS

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