The Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched an early morning raid across 15 locations in Jharkhand and Bihar on Tuesday as part of its ongoing probe into a major money laundering case linked to illegal acquisition of forest land in Bokaro district of Jharkhand.
In Ranchi, searches were carried out at the residences and offices of businessmen Vimal Agarwal and Puneet Agarwal, including their construction firm, Rajveer Construction.
Both individuals are associated with Baba Baidyanath Medical Trust and were previously targeted in a GST raid on September 26, 2023.
Simultaneously in Bokaro, ED officials conducted raids at the offices of Manmohan Construction, the Forest Department, the Deputy Commissioner, and the Zonal Registration Office.
Residences of several landowners including Izhar Hussain, Rehmat Hussain, Akhtar Hussain, and others were also searched.
The investigation centers around the alleged illegal allotment of 74.38 acres of protected forest land in 2022, originally belonging to the Forest Department.
According to the Division Forest Officer (DFO) Rajneesh Kumar, this land was fraudulently transferred by tampering with a land application and forging signatures in the name of Mahendra Mishra, whose original holding was just 10 decimals.
The scam came to light when Mishra filed a criminal complaint in 2024, leading to an FIR being registered by the Bokaro Forest Division. The dispute has also sparked legal battles, with conflicting claims by the state and forest department leading to two Indian Forest Service officers being held in contempt of court.
The ED’s investigation runs parallel to an inquiry by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of the Jharkhand Police, highlighting the magnitude of the land scam and the involvement of high-ranking administrative and business entities.
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