In accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, searches pertaining to land fraud have been carried out by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Ranchi Zonal Office. In the case of Bhanu Pratap Prasad and others, the ED detained four accused persons: Priya Ranjan Sahay, Irshad Akhtar, Antu Tirkey, and Bipin Singh.
Afsar Ali was also brought to the Special PMLA Court on a production warrant, which resulted in his detention and imprisonment. He was remanded to ED custody by the Honourable PMLA Court until April 22, 2024. Md. Saddam Hussain, another accused, is likewise being held by the ED until April 20, 2024. The Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act (CNT Act), which attempts to safeguard the land rights of marginalised and tribal populations, has led to the arrest of these six people for their participation in the forging, tampering, and falsification of land documents.
The inquiry has uncovered the active participation of government employees from Kolkata’s and Ranchi’s land revenue departments. It has been found that Hemant Soren, the former chief minister of Jharkhand, is illegally in possession of part of the lands that the accused obtained via such fabrication and fraud.
Earlier, Hemant Soren and Bhanu Pratap Prasad, a Revenue Official and keeper of original government documents, were taken into custody for obtaining, retaining, and hiding the profits of criminal activity in the shape of an 8.8-acre piece of real estate in Bariyatu, Ranchi.
On March 30, 2024, a Prosecution Complaint was filed against them and four other defendants for helping Soren get and hold the aforementioned property unlawfully. The ED has placed the property’s provisional value at Rs. 31 Crore (Government Value). On April 9, 2024, Saddam Hussain was subsequently taken into custody due to his role in the fabrication and forgery of land documents.
Based on many FIRs against various people, including government officials, filed by the Jharkhand and Kolkata Police, the ED has opened money laundering investigations in five land fraud instances using a similar methodology. A land mafia network operating in Jharkhand that tampered with land records in Ranchi and Kolkata has been discovered by the investigations.
Original land records are either altered or hidden to make it easier for someone to obtain, own, or use landed properties illegally. These land parcels are then sold to other people on the basis of falsified land documents.
In such cases, the ED conducted 51 searches and 9 surveys in the past. As a result, incriminating evidence including forged land deeds forged seals from the Land Revenue Department, records of the distribution of proceeds from crime, forgery photos, proof of bribes to public officials, etc. were seized.
A total of Rs. 1.25 crore in cash was found and seized as a result of these searches, and bank account balances totalling Rs. 3.56 crore were frozen. The ED has temporarily attached contaminated land parcels valued at Rs. 266 crore (commercial value) in the land fraud cases. In the course of the continuing investigation, the ED has filed three prosecution complaints, and 22 accused parties, including Hemant Soren, Chhavi Ranjan, IAS (Ex-DC, Ranchi), Bhanu Pratap Prasad (Revenue Sub-Inspector), Amit Kumar Agarwal, Prem Prakash, etc., have so far been taken into custody.
Through 14 referrals filed under section 66(2) of PMLA, the results of the inquiry are constantly shared with the Government of Jharkhand. Additional research is underway.
