The ED Jalandhar has arrested Ajay Sehgal, Secretary of the Indian Cooperative House Building Society, in a money laundering case involving forged consent letters submitted to secure Change of Land Use (CLU) approval for the Suntec City project in Punjab.
The ED started its inquiry based on an FIR filed by the Punjab Police on a complaint from farmers who said their consent was forged to obtain CLU permissions. The arrest was made on Friday.
According to the ED probe, Ajay Sehgal of the Indian Cooperative Housing Building Society prepared fake consent letters for 30.5 acres of land belonging to 15 landowners. Based on these forged documents, CLU approval was given for a real estate mega project called ‘Suntec City’. The letters carried forged signatures and thumb impressions of the landowners.
Earlier, the ED conducted search operations on May 7 at eight locations linked to the Indian Cooperative House Building Society and ABS Township Private Limited. During the search, Rs 21 lakh cash was allegedly thrown from the balcony of liaison businessman Nitin Gohel, which fell onto the road below and was later recovered by ED officials.
Apart from residential plots, Ajay Sehgal also developed La Canela residential complex and District 7 commercial project using CLU obtained through fake consent letters.
The ED further that units in these projects were sold even before registration and RERA approval. It added that more than Rs 200 crore worth of sales were made through these illegal and unauthorised projects.
It was also found that Sehgal had not transferred EWS plots to the Estate Officer of Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) to date. The ED said only partial CLU for 30 acres was revoked, and instead of action under Section 90, proceedings were taken under Section 85 of the Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act.
The role of senior officials from DTCP and GMADA is also under investigation. The ED said more arrests are likely in the case, and it is also probing top officials of GMADA and other departments who may have supported Sehgal and allegedly received kickbacks in return.
The agency said its detailed investigation has revealed large-scale irregularities in GMADA and the Department of Town and Country Planning in granting approvals to Suntec City and other developers. It alleged that illegal benefits were given to real estate developers at the cost of farmers and landowners in Punjab.
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