The Enforcement Directorate quizzed Punjab-cadre IAS officer Anurag Verma for over eight hours on Wednesday in connection with its ongoing probe into the scam related to the Mohali-based Suntec City and Altus Space Builders Private Limited case.
Verma reached the central agency’s regional office in Jalandhar around 11 am, and questioning was still ongoing at the time of filing this report.
Verma, a former Punjab chief secretary who is presently posted as additional chief secretary-cum-financial commissioner (revenue), is the second IAS officer summoned by the agency in this case. He served in the department of housing and urban development in various crucial positions over the years.
Earlier, he was summoned on August 31 but he sought extension for his appearance following which the agency re-summoned him again on September 7. However, the ED deferred the summons to September 9.
An ED official familiar with the investigation said Verma was questioned about the case and his written statement was recorded on issues arising from the prosecution complaint, including the process for granting CLU (change of land use) permissions, scrutiny and verification of applications, alleged violations of RERA provisions and the role of competent authorities in detecting purportedly fraudulent consent letters.
Earlier, the agency quizzed another IAS officer Kanwal Preet Brar twice in the same case on August 18 and August 27.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, the agency quizzed another IAS officer Kanwal Preet Brar twice in the same case on August 18 and August 27.
{{/usCountry}}Inside the ED probe
On July 20, the ED filed a nearly 3,500-page prosecution complaint before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mohali.
In the complaint, the agency has accused realtor Ajay Sehgal of being the alleged mastermind behind the generation and concealment of proceeds of crime estimated at ₹348 crore. Sehgal, described by the ED as a key promoter of the Suntec City project, was arrested on May 22.
The ED is probing the process for granting CLU permissions, scrutiny and verification of applications, alleged violations of Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) provisions and the role of competent authorities in detecting purportedly fraudulent consent letters.
The money-laundering case stems from an FIR registered at the Mullanpur police station in November 2022 against Sehgal and other office-bearers of the Indian Cooperative Housing Building Society, including Suresh Kumar Bajaj, Aashish Kamra and Rajesh Girdhar. They were accused of allegedly cheating landowners and customers through fraudulent CLUs and related documents.
According to ED, Sehgal, who was associated with the society, allegedly submitted forged consent letters to the department of town and country planning to obtain CLUs for 108.58 acres of agricultural land for residential and commercial development.
The agency has alleged that the CLUs subsequently formed the basis for obtaining a licence from the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) and registration of the project under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA).
According to the prosecution complaint, ED has quantified the alleged proceeds of crime at approximately ₹348 crore, comprising around ₹212.58 crore in sales and ₹135.41 crore in unsold inventory.
GMADA failed to take action: ED
ED investigation revealed that GMADA started receiving complaints regarding the use of forged consent letters from 2020 onwards.
“No action was taken against the accused persons allowing them to generate proceeds of crime by selling residential and commercial units in a project whose approval was obtained illegally. Instead ABS Township Private Limited was again granted CLU of 14.59 acres while altering the layout of the original approved project without following the RERA Act,” the ED said.
It added that GMADA subsequently revoked the CLU for these projects partially under the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act, allowing the accused person to further generate proceeds of crime, which was under investigation.
It may be mentioned that the ED had sought extensive records from GMADA about the real estate projects initiated by these companies.
Mohali SSP also summoned
The central agency has also summoned the Mohali SSP on Thursday to gather details of the police investigation into the alleged fraud with buyers and farmers by Suntec City developers.
The summons were issued under Section 54 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for further assistance in the inquiry by the state police.
An ED official said the Mohali SSP was sent multiple letters from July 1 to August 30 to provide the investigation material, but no response was received. “The summons have been issued so that required documents can be provided to the agency,” an official said.