Dehradun, June 27 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate seized Rs 24.70 lakh and incriminating documents during simultaneous searches at seven locations in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh in a case linked to a Dehradun-based provincial civil service (PCS) officer in the NH-74 scam case, an official said on Friday.

D.P. Singh, a senior PCS officer currently working as Executive Director, Doiwala Sugar Mill in Dehradun, faced the searches on Thursday, said an official statement.

The ED said D.P. Singh, the then Special Land Acquisition Officer (SLAO), Uttarakhand, while working in the capacity of Competent Authority of Land Acquisition (CALA), entered into conspiracy with Revenue Officer/Officials, Land Consolidation Officer/Officials, farmers/land owners, middlemen and others for misappropriation of the government funds by manipulating the use of land by way of passing backdated orders.

This resulted in payment of higher compensation to landowners at non-agriculture rates, as opposed to the legal and expected compensation, said the ED.

To achieve his ulterior motives, he resorted to fabrication/forgery by making back-dated entries in revenue records/documents, which were projected as genuine at the time of distributing compensation to landowners against land acquired for the widening of NH-74 and NH-125. This resulted in a loss of Rs 162.5 crore (approx.) to the government treasury, said the federal probe agency.

The ED in this case had already attached movable and immovable properties amounting to Rs 43 crore (approx.) from various accused persons.

While the investigation is in progress against these officials and landowners, seven Prosecution Complaints have already been filed before the Special Court (PMLA), Dehradun.

Earlier last year, the ED attached immovable properties worth Rs 7.89 crore in the form of land situated at Vallah village in Amritsar district, along with movable properties worth Rs 2.40 crore in connection with a case linked to the scam.

The ED had initiated the investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on an FIR filed by the police.

During the investigation, it was revealed that five brothers — Ajmer Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Gurvail Singh, Sukhwant Singh and Satnam Singh — managed to get backdated forged orders and subsequently got them entered in the revenue records on a later date in connivance with the revenue officials and middlemen.

Based on this, they fraudulently received excess compensation to the tune of Rs 15.73 crore for their land, which was being acquired for the widening of NH-74 at a non-agricultural rate.

The ED investigation revealed that this ill-got money was either utilised for purchasing immovable properties in their names or was transferred to their other bank accounts or bank accounts of their relatives.

–IANS

rch/uk