New Delhi, Nov 13 The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it arrested a former additional deputy commissioner of the Punjab rural development department and a private person in a case related to the alleged illegal transfer of 92 acres of land in Pathankot district, located along the India-Pakistan international border.
The officer, Kuldeep Singh, and Nipun Mahajan, a person linked to stone crushing and mining operations, were taken into custody on November 11. A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Jalandhar sent them to ED custody till November 16.
The federal probe agency, in a press statement, alleged that Punjab Minister for Civil Supplies and Forests Lal Chand Kataruchak “recommended” Singh for appointment to the said post in February 2023.
“Kataruchak recommended him (Singh) for the post through a DO letter dated 23.02.2023 to the then Minister of Rural Development and Panchayats.”
“A request to expeditiously pass the order regarding the transfer of the Shamlat (common village) land was conveyed to Kuldeep Singh through an intermediary,” according to the ED statement.
The agency claimed that Singh passed the order dated February 27, 2023 in favour of private claimants of shamlat land, a day before his retirement.
Kataruchak could not be contacted immediately for a comment on the charges made against him by the ED.
Regarding Mahajan, the agency claimed he revealed that to obtain possession of this mineral-rich shamlat land, he entered into powers of attorney and purchase agreements with the accused named in the FIR and made payments to them through bank accounts and in cash.
The ED case stems from an August 2023 FIR registered by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (Amritsar) on charges of fraudulent transfer of about 92 acres of shamlat land in Bhattian village, Pathankot district, to private persons.
The land lies in the Ravi river belt near the India-Pakistan international border.
The ED added that a drone and bathymetric survey conducted by IIT Ropar assessed illegal excavation of 50.74 lakh cubic feet amounting to Rs 11.16 crore in the said shamlat land of 92 acres.
“The illegal extraction continues rampantly till date,” the ED said.
Searches were conducted by the ED in this case in July during which it claimed to have seized Rs 1.75 crore in cash from Mahajan’s premises.
(PTI News)
