Manesar land deal case: CBI seeks details of property bought by IAS officer’s wife

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the Manesar land release case, has sought details of a property IAS officer Rakesh Gupta’s wife purchased in 2006 from the Haryana Housing Board. The Haryana-cadre IAS officer is presently posted in the chief minister’s office.

Seeking information, the investigating officer of the central agency in a June 2017 communication to the Housing Board chief administrator wrote that it has been made to appear to me that the production of the details of property purchased by the wife of the officer is necessary for the purpose of investigation being made into the offence (Manesar land release case). The CBI sought details including cost of the property, mode of payment made by the allottee etc.

Property purchased and transferred

The Housing Board in its reply said that a house in sector 7, Housing Board Colony, Bahadurgarh was allotted to the wife of the officer on hire purchase installment basis.

The agency that was probing whether there was a quid pro quo between officers and real estate players is also looking at the mode including financial sourcing for acquisition of properties by the officers.

As per the Housing Board communication, the cost of the allotted house was Rs 18.75 lakh. The allottee paid Rs 10.23 lakhs till November 2011 before transferring the house to a resident of Surehti village in Jhajjar. The Bahadurgarh property also finds mention in the immoveable property return (IPR) of the IAS officer for 2010-11. The CBI in June had started looking into the assets of three Haryana IAS officers to find out whether real estate players were favoured in the Manesar land release case. It had sought the immoveable property records of three IAS officers.

Multiple angles being probe

The agency which was probing whether there was a quid pro quo between officers and real estate players is also looking at the mode including financial sourcing for acquisition of properties by the officers. The CBI had in 2015 registered a case against builders and Haryana officials for their alleged role in the fraudulent purchase of 400 acres, worth R1,600 crore (as per then market rates) from gullible farmers in Manesar of Gurgaon district for a mere Rs 100 crore. The purchases allegedly occurred under the threat of acquisition by the state government, during August 27, 2004 to August 24, 2007, as part of an upcoming project to acquire 912 acres land for setting up an Industrial Model Township (IMT) across Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnoula villages.