Land acquisition scam: ED attaches ₹2.42-crore assets of former Panchkula DRO, middleman
Former Panchkula DRO-cum-land acquisition collector Naresh Kumar Sheokand is accused of fraudulently transferring funds meant for land acquisition compensation to ineligible landowners during his tenure from 2012 to 2014
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth ₹2.42 crore belonging to a former Panchkula district revenue officer (DRO) and a middleman in a multi-crore government land acquisition scam.
Former Panchkula DRO-cum-land acquisition collector Naresh Kumar Sheokand is accused of fraudulently transferring funds meant for land acquisition compensation to ineligible landowners during his tenure from 2012 to 2014, causing losses to the tune of ₹37.89 crore to the exchequer.
The assets, attached under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, are residential flats in Panchkula and Noida, belonging to Sheokand and middleman Shamshad.
Sheokand was suspended by the Haryana government in 2015 for his alleged involvement in the fraud, which had come to light following a report by the then Panchkula deputy commissioner, Vivek Atray.
Sheokand was accused of transferring land acquisition funds to his account in Jangpura, Delhi, for further transfer to some people through RTGS. These funds were withdrawn in cash and invested in the purchase of various properties, the ED found through investigation.
Sheokand and Shamshad are facing a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, for criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and criminal misconduct of public servant.
