Land scam: ED raids over 10 locations in Chennai

CHENNAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched extensive searches on Wednesday at approximately 15 locations across Chennai and the Kancheepuram district.

This operation is part of an ongoing investigation into money laundering related to a forgery scandal involving land acquisition for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) Limited.

Searches were conducted in the residences of suspects in areas including Sowcarpet, Kilpauk, KK Nagar, Saidapet, MGR Nagar, and Ambattur. The premises, guarded by CRPF personnel, belong to several businessmen and a PWD contractor, who are under scrutiny.

One of the most prominent searches for the day took place at the Chaitanya apartment complex in Kilpauk, where officials inspected the residence of iron merchant Nirmal Kumar.

Another major operation was carried out at the Saidapet home of Kalaichelvan in Srinagar Colony, while ED teams also raided the apartment of Prakash located in Thiruvengada Nagar, Ambattur.

Documents, digital storage devices, and financial records were reportedly examined at these locations as part of the probe.

The central agency's probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) originates from two separate cases filed by Tamil Nadu police in 2022 and 2023.

These cases involved the fraudulent registration of Open Space Reservation (OSR) land using fake documents to transfer ownership to private individuals.

As part of the investigation, the then Sriperumbudur tahsildar was implicated in transferring originally designated OSR land parcels, which the NHAI later acquired for a highway widening project. In another instance, officials were arrested for cancelling a land registration to benefit private parties.

The investigations revealed that these fake landowners illegally acquired hundreds of crores of rupees in compensation from the government. The current searches aim to seize relevant documents to further the investigation. The officials indicated that more details on the ongoing investigation would emerge after the scrutiny of seized materials is completed.

Wednesday’s operation adds to a string of high-profile ED raids conducted in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu over the past year.

The agency had earlier searched the premises of several political leaders and their associates, including figures from both the ruling and Opposition camps, in connection with money laundering and Disproportionate Assets cases.

Business groups involved in real estate, construction, gold and diamond trading, textiles, and sand mining also faced ED scrutiny in recent months, with some operations yielding significant amounts of unaccounted cash and crucial documents.