Ranchi: The Enforcement Directorate arrested Bishnu Kumar Agarwal, a Ranchi-based businessman, in connection with its ongoing money laundering probe linked to a case of alleged land fraud in Jharkhand as it claimed he was “hand in glove” with arrested IAS officer Chhavi Ranjan in land grabbing cases.
Agarwal was arrested Monday night under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following a fresh round of questioning at the federal agency’s office located here.
He was produced by the agency before a local court Tuesday with a plea to grant his seven days custody. The court sent him to jail and it is expected to take up the remand plea Wednesday.
The businessman is the 13th person to be arrested in this case including 2011-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Ranjan, who earlier served as the director of the state social welfare department and as the deputy commissioner of Ranchi. An employee of the state land revenue department, Bhanu Pratap Prasad, was also arrested by the ED in the case.
The investigation relates to “huge amounts of proceeds of crime generated by manipulation of official records by showing dummy sellers and purchasers in the guise of forged/ bogus documents to acquire huge parcels of land having value in crores”.
The ED claimed Agarwal “deceitfully” acquired a one acre land located at Cheshire Home Road, under the Sadar police station limits in Ranchi, “in conspiracy with other persons and committed related criminal activities like fabrication of documents and forging of government records”.
“Bishnu Kumar Agarwal is habitually involved in activities related to acquisition of lands in fraudulent and illegal manner in connivance with highly placed government officials including the then Deputy Commissioner-cum-Registrar of Ranchi, Chhavi Ranjan,” the agency told the court Tuesday while seeking the remand of the businessman.
Ranjan, it said, was presently lodged in the Birsa Munda jail under judicial custody for “his involvement in facilitating Amit Kumar Agarwal in the fraudulent acquisition of land belonging to the defence.”
Probe found Ranjan “extended” favours to Agarwal in the “fraudulent” acquisition of several landed properties including the one located at Cheshire Home Road here. It also alleged that the businessman “fraudulently acquired” a more than 5 acre defence land in Ranchi and this land, according to Jharkhand government records, was in the possession of the Indian Army since 1949.
The agency said the two (Agarwal and Ranjan) worked in an “organised manner” as it found several FaceTime/WhatsApp calls between them with “disappearing” mode turned on.
It told the court that it found exchange of draft orders and “confidential” documents between them and instances of hotel bookings and arrangement for tours and stays of Chhavi Ranjan and others in five-star hotels.
“It is thus seen that Bishnu Kumar Agarwal and Chhavi Ranjan are hand in glove with each other and Chhavi Ranjan has facilitated Bishnu Kumar Agarwal by giving favourable orders causing loss to the government exchequer and manipulating the government records,” the ED alleged.
This money laundering case stems from an FIR of the state police that was filed against one Pradip Bagchi, based on a complaint of the Ranchi Municipal Corporation.
The alleged fraud relates to a “racket of land mafia” that is alleged to be active in Jharkhand, by “forging the legacy records” in Kolkata and Ranchi, the ED had said. It alleged that based on the forged land records, land parcels were sold to other persons.
The ED has conducted 41 searches and five surveys as part of this investigation and its sleuths have seized “forged” seals of the land revenue department, land deeds, and records of distribution of the “proceeds of crime” apart from some photographs depicting this alleged forgery, “evidence” of giving bribe to government officials etc.
PTI