Teams from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), backed by a strong contingent of CRPF personnel, raided the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) office in Mohali on Tuesday.
At least three floors of the GMADA building were sealed, and senior officials' mobile phones were seized.
The action covers the promoters, directors and related persons of Tirupati Infraprojects, Remigate Buildestates (India) Pvt Ltd, MB Infrabuild Pvt Ltd, Mera Baba Reality Associates Pvt Ltd and Mera Baba Infrastructure Pvt Ltd.
The investigation has revealed that the promoters of Tirupati Infraprojects also control Remigate Buildestates and MB Infrabuild.
These firms had acquired two prime auction sites in Mohali from GMADA and later secured substantial financial relief on the dues payable to the authority.
Teams from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), backed by a strong contingent of CRPF personnel, raided the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) office in Mohali on Tuesday.
The central agency officials confiscated records related to the Remigate case and other matters involving the alleged granting of undue benefits to private builders. At least three floors of the GMADA building were sealed, and senior officials' mobile phones were seized.
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Sources said top GMADA functionaries, including the Estate Officer, Additional Chief Administrator and Chief Executive Engineer, were summoned to the room of the Secretary, Housing, where they were being questioned by the ED teams.
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Officials indicated that the agency is examining several alleged irregularities, including those linked to land acquisitions, change-of-land-use clearances, the extension of benefits to private realtors and the auction of properties.
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The raid on the GMADA office is part of a larger operation. The ED has initiated search and survey operations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, at 26 premises across Delhi, Mohali, Chandigarh, Panchkula and Ludhiana in connection with M/s Tirupati Infraprojects Pvt Ltd and its associated entities.
The action covers the promoters, directors and related persons of Tirupati Infraprojects, Remigate Buildestates (India) Pvt Ltd, MB Infrabuild Pvt Ltd, Mera Baba Reality Associates Pvt Ltd and Mera Baba Infrastructure Pvt Ltd.
Simultaneously, surveys under Section 16 of the PMLA are under way at the offices of GMADA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Punjab, to collect evidence of dealings between the accused companies and the authority.
The investigation has revealed that the promoters of Tirupati Infraprojects also control Remigate Buildestates and MB Infrabuild. These firms had acquired two prime auction sites in Mohali from GMADA and later secured substantial financial relief on the dues payable to the authority. The suspected undue gain to the companies and the corresponding loss to the exchequer are estimated at over Rs 100 crore.
The ED is also searching the premises of M/s Tila Consultants & Contractors Pvt Ltd, a firm that has undertaken various consultancy assignments for GMADA and is suspected of acting as an intermediary in the alleged irregularities.
Tirupati Infraprojects is already facing cases registered by the CBI and the ED in connection with an alleged bank fraud of around Rs 290 crore related to the Radisson Blu hotel project at Paschim Vihar in New Delhi.
Further details of the ongoing searches and questioning were awaited.
