Haryana Land Deal: ED Registers Money Laundering Case Against Former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda

Fresh trouble brewed for former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a money laundering case against him and others in a case of alleged financial irregularities in acquisition of land in Gurgaon’s Manesar in which farmers were forced to sell their lands cheap to private builders, a cheating to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore.

The ED has filed a criminal complaint against the Congress leader based on a first information report by the Central Bureau of Investigation, which had searched residences of Hooda and some bureaucrats in New Delhi on September 3.

According to the officials, the ED case has been made under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

During searches at Hooda’s residence on September 3, the CBI had claimed to have found “fund transaction details worth crores of rupees” which are now being scrutinised by the agency. The ED is expected to seek a copy of these documents from the CBI soon.

In September last year, the CBI had registered a case on the allegations that private builders had conspired with unknown public servants of the Haryana government. They purchased around 400 acres of land from farmers and landowners of Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnoula village in Gurgaon district between August 2004 and august 2007. The worth total of Rs 1,600 crore w purchased at throw away price of Rs 100 crore.