ED arrests seven people in connection with Jharkhand land scam

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials conducted raids at several locations in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal in connection with the Army land scam .

Ranchi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials conducted raids at several locations in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal in connection with the Army land scam on Thursday. These raids were carried out at 22 locations in three states. Sources said that following the raids conducted by the ED officials, seven persons were arrested from Ranchi in Jharkhand in connection with the land scam. The arrested persons have been identified as Bhanu Pratap, an employee of the Ranchi-based Bargain Circle office, Afsar Ali Khan, Imtiaz Khan, Talha Khan, Ayaz Khan and Mohammad Saddam, all employees of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS).

The seven arrested persons were found to be involved in the land bungling. Besides, raids were conducted at the residence of a senior IAS officer from Jharkhand, Chhavi Ranjan, who was the former DC of Ranchi. Chhavi Ranjan, who is at present posted as director in Social Welfare Department in Ranchi. He was on Enforcement Directorate's radar for a long time. He allegedly tampered with revenue records pertaining to the sale of 4.55 acres of prime land belonging to the Army.

Sources further said that those arrested are government employees and were involved in shady dealing related to Army land plots. Altogether 4.55 acres of land belonging to the Army in the Karam Toli area of Jharkhan's Ranchi were sold to others after forging the documents. The accused was hand-in-glove with administrative officials and sold the plots worth crores of rupees. The raids were conducted at 22 places, including Bihar, Jharkhand as well as West Bengal. The ED has already registered an FIR in this connection. Besides, the ED had recorded the statement of the deputy registrar.