The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday questioned former Haryana Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda in connection with a money laundering case. The case pertains to alleged irregularities in land acquisition at Manesar between 2004 and 2007s.
The 76-year-old Hooda's statement was recorded under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED probe focused on the "illegal" acquisition of land in Haryana's Manesar during the specified period, allegedly involving senior government functionaries and bureaucrats.
ED filed the case in 2021
Earlier in February 2021, the ED had filed a prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in the Panchkula Industrial plot allotment scam linking the former Haryana CM and 21 others. According to the probe agency, the case involves the allocation of 14 industrial plots worth Rs 30.34 crore allegedly to the acquaintances of the then Chief Minister of Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda in the year 2013.
Who all are named in case?
The ED said that the price fixed for the subject allotment was kept 4-5 times below the circle rate and 7-8 times the market rate, it said. As per the agency's statement dated back in 2021, apart from Bhupinder Singh Hooda, 4 retired IAS officers namely, Dharam Pal Singh Nagal (the then Chief Administrator, HUDA), Surjit Singh (the then Administrator, HUDA), Subhash Chandra Kansal (the then Chief Controller of Finance, HUDA) Narinder Kumar Solanki (the then Zonal Administrator, Faridabad Zone, HUDA) and other HUDA official Bharat Bhushan Taneja (the then Superintendent, HUDA) have been involved in the commission of the offence of Money Laundering.
All 14 industrial plots attached
According to the ED, the price fixed for the subject allotment was kept 4-5 times below the circle rate and 7-8 times the market rate. All 14 industrial plots stand attached as per the provisions of PMLA, 2002 by the Enforcement Directorate in August 2019 and the attachment was confirmed by the PMLA Adjudicating Authority in February 2020.
(With inputs from agencies)
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