Gurugram land case: CBI recovers important documents

 The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has got massive leads in Haryana's Manesar land grab case during widespread searches carried out at 110 places across 19 states and Union Territories, in what is being viewed as the Modi government's biggest-ever action against corruption.

A senior CBI official here said that the agency has registered around 30 separate cases relating to corruption, criminal misconduct and arms smuggling among others.

During searches at the official premises of Krish Buildtech Pvt Ltd. in Jasola district centre here, the agency recovered 14 documents pertaining to land deals in Manesar, the official said.

The CBI has booked former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and T.C. Gupta, the then Chief Administrator, HUDA and Director, Urban Estate, Town and Country Planning Department, and others, including 15 private builders, on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, pecuniary advantage and criminal misconduct in connection with alleged irregularities in allotting over 1,417 acres of land in Gurugram during 2009-12. It has carried out raids at over 20 places in Haryana, Delhi and Punjab. 

"One crucial document has been recovered pertaining to land deal case which points the finger towards the then Chief Minister and Gupta," the CBI official said.

The agency registered the case on January 29 this year on the November 1, 2017 order of the Supreme Court to investigate the acquisition process of over 1,417 acres of land between 2009 and 2012 in Gurugram's Sector 58 to 63 and Sector 65 to 67. 

The agency has carried out searches at over 20 places in January this year, including the DLF office in Gurugram, and in Chandigarh, New Delhi and Mohali as well as Hooda's residence in Rohtak.

The agency had earlier registered a preliminary enquiry to probe into the allegations. 

The CBI had received a go-ahead to file a charge sheet against Hooda in connection with the case.

The former Chief Minister faces allegations of using his influence to allot a plot for Associated Journal Ltd (AJL), the parent company of the National Herald newspaper.

Besides, the searches in Delhi, the agency has also carried out searches across the country in its investigation into several other important cases. IANS