Chandigarh: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached assets valued at approximately Rs 9.87 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with an alleged land compensation fraud involving inflated claims for guava orchards in Mohali, Punjab.
According to official sources, the attached assets include immovable properties and shares belonging to individuals identified as Vikas Bhandari, Bhupinder Singh, and Smt. Ritika Bhandari, Karam Singh, and Gurdeep Singh. The action stems from a broader probe into a compensation scam where government officials allegedly colluded with private parties to siphon off public funds.
Land Compensation Irregularities Under Scrutiny
The investigation centers on a scheme in which several revenue and horticulture department officers are accused of facilitating wrongful payments by falsely certifying ordinary land parcels as commercial guava orchards. This misclassification allowed landowners to claim significantly inflated compensation when their land was acquired.
The ED began probing the case based on a predicate offence registered by state investigative agencies. The trail of money uncovered during the investigation reportedly led to suspicious property acquisitions and financial transactions by the beneficiaries.
“The assets identified and attached were found to be proceeds of crime acquired through manipulation of official assessments and compensation records,” an official source familiar with the matter said.
Officials Under the Scanner
Sources indicate that the scam involved a network of officials from the Revenue and Horticulture Departments who allegedly helped orchestrate the fraudulent payouts. By misrepresenting the nature and productivity of land parcels, they enabled beneficiaries to receive compensation amounts far exceeding the legitimate value.
While no arrests have been reported so far under the ED’s ongoing investigation, departmental inquiries and criminal cases have already been initiated against several government employees at the state level.
Continued Crackdown on Compensation Frauds
This case marks another chapter in the ED’s wider crackdown on land acquisition and compensation scams across the country, where systemic corruption involving valuation fraud has resulted in large-scale financial losses to the public exchequer.
Legal experts note that the provisional attachment is an initial step that may be followed by further enforcement actions, including prosecution and potential confiscation, pending adjudication by the PMLA authority.
The ED is expected to file a supplementary report detailing the flow of funds and involvement of additional suspects in the coming weeks.
