The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted searches in around a dozen locations in West Bengal and Jharkhand as part of a money laundering probe into alleged illegal occupation and sale of defence land in Jharkhand, officials said.
The case pertains to alleged fraudulent sale of an Army land measuring 4.45 acre in Bariatu in Ranchi.
The Ranchi municipal corporation had lodged a police complaint in April after a departmental probe into land records suggested the collusion of a few businessmen in Ranchi and Kolkata, and Jharkhand government officials in the sale of the land using forged documents, officials said.
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The ED began its probe into the matter last month, an official said on condition of anonymity.
In Bengal, teams of ED sleuths raided four locations in Kolkata and the adjacent city of Bidhannagar. While one team raided the house of businessman Amit Agrawal at HB-65B, a second team searched the premises of his brother, Amar Agarwal, in Sector V. Both the areas are under Bidhannagar.
Amit Agarwal is currently in judicial custody in a Ranchi prison. He was arrested by the ED in connection with a money laundering case, after Jharkhand high court lawyer Rajiv Kumar was arrested on extortion charges in August.
{{/usCountry}}Amit Agarwal is currently in judicial custody in a Ranchi prison. He was arrested by the ED in connection with a money laundering case, after Jharkhand high court lawyer Rajiv Kumar was arrested on extortion charges in August.
{{/usCountry}}At least eight locations were searched in Ranchi.
The ED teams raided locations linked to businessman Vishnu Agrawal, who also owns a chain of shopping malls in the state.
Premises linked to at least three government officials who were holding posts at the time of the land deal were also searched in Ranchi, a second official said on condition of anonymity.