Dehradun, Sep 7 (IANS) In a major success, the ED arrested the mastermind of large-scale land fraud in Dehradun and got his five-day custody from a Special Court for questioning over proceeds of crime of about Rs 3.24 crore, an official said on Monday.

Naveen Kumar Mittal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Dehradun, on September 3 under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), the official said in a statement.

After his arrest, Mittal was produced before the Special Court (PMLA) in Dehradun, which remanded him to five days of ED custody for questioning.

The ED investigation was initiated based on multiple FIRs registered by Uttarakhand Police relating to the fabrication of land records and fraudulent sale of land in Dehradun.

The police have so far filed charge sheets in two of these FIRs naming Mittal as the prime accused and the principal beneficiary of the fraud, said the statement.

The ED has already filed a prosecution complaint in this case against Humayun Parvez, Mohd. Vakil and Mukesh Kumar Gupta before the Special Court (PMLA), Dehradun.

Investigation revealed that Mittal projected his co-accused as the rightful owner of the land through forged documents and sold the land to innocent buyers, the ED said.

The sale consideration, containing Proceeds of Crime of Rs 3.24 crore, was received in a bank account opened in the name of the co-accused and was thereafter transferred to entities under his control, it said.

Forensic examination of the original bank records by CFSL (Central Forensic Science Laboratory, New Delhi) established that this account was in fact operated by Mittal, it said.

Despite repeated summonses, Mittal did not join the investigation, influenced witnesses and prevented his own relatives from deposing before the agency and attempted to project the tainted transactions as genuine by fabricating fresh documents, the ED said.

Searches conducted by the ED at his premises in August resulted in the seizure of incriminating documents and digital devices. His involvement in other land frauds has also surfaced and is under investigation, the ED said.

Land fraud through fabricated revenue records and forged title documents has emerged as one of the most pervasive economic crimes in Uttarakhand, defrauding citizens of their life savings and eroding public trust in the land registration system.

The arrest of prime accused Mittal sends a clear message that those who generate and launder proceeds of such frauds will be brought to justice and that the tainted assets will be traced, attached and confiscated under the PMLA, 2002, said the ED statement.

–IANS

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