ED names Punjab AAP chief in statement about change of land use scam case

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday claimed that one of the persons accused in a land scam and money laundering case was an alleged associate of Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab chief Aman Arora, The Indian Express reported.

This came after the central agency conducted raids at several locations in Chandigarh and Mohali in connection with the case.

In a statement, the central agency alleged that one of the builders whose premises were searched, Gaurav Dhir of Dhir Constructions, was a “close associate” of the AAP leader, who is also a state minister.

The searches were carried out at locations linked to the Suntec City project, developed by the Indian Cooperative Housing Building Society, along with premises linked to its promoter Ajay Sehgal, ABS Townships, Altus Space Builders, Dhir Constructions and their associates under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the newspaper quoted the agency as saying.

The two real estate groups had allegedly fraudulently obtained Change of Land Use permissions.

The agency alleged that Dhir, through his entity Suncity Projects, purchased a project from Altus Space Builders Private Limited for Rs 130 crore by undervaluing it by more than Rs 170 crore in order to facilitate money laundering, India Today reported.

It also named two alleged middlemen, Nitin Gohal and Pritpal Singh Dhindsa, claiming that they helped secure “political patronage...

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