Dehradun: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted raids across five states in connection with a fake registry scam.
Sources said search operations are underway in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam and Punjab's Ludhiana. In Uttarakhand, raids are on across different locations in Dehradun and Rishikesh.
It is being told that the raids are being conducted at the locations of land mafias, government employees and officers working in the registry office, government lawyers and some builders. The fake registry scam had come to light in July 2022 after which, 18 cases were registered in this connection. So far, more than 20 accused have been arrested and sent to jail.
According to sources, a 15-member ED team arrived in 25 vehicles in Dehradun at around 6 am today and launched a raid. During which, they collected documents and many important information. The raid is likely to continue will late night.
Some officers also reached Rishikesh, where raids are being held at Rajpur Road, Dalanwala and Akashdeep Colony. Also, raids were conducted at the houses of the two accused lawyers, Imran and Kamal Virmani in fake registry case. Virmani was arrested on August 27, 2023.
Dehradun Police have registered a total of 13 cases in connection with the fake registry scam. A detailed report was given to the ED in January 2024 in view of the possibilities of money laundering by the accused.
On July 15, 2023, Dehradun Assistant Inspector General Registration Sandeep Srivastava had lodged a complaint of alleged tampering with different land sale documents in Sub Registrar Office I and II. On the basis of the complaint, a case was registered in Kotwali Nagar Dehradun. After which an SIT was formed.
The SIT team collected information from the registrar's office and many people were questioned. During interrogation, names of some property dealers came to the fore. On questioning them, the names of many others involved in the fraud surfaced. After this, the team searched the bank accounts of many suspicious people and transactions worth crores of rupees were revealed.
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