ED raids 14 premises in Punjab in connection with fraudulent mutation scam

LUDHIANA: Jalandhar-based zonal office of the enforcement directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted raids at 14 premises in Punjab located in Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Hoshiarpur and Mohali. According to information available from sources, all the premises raided by the ED sleuths are residential and different teams comprising of about 50 officers and staff of ED units from different states were part of the action.
Though ED remained tight-lipped about the day’s action, sources revealed that raids were in connection with a case registered by ED Jalandhar in March 2021 in the infamous wrong mutation scam which took place in 2016-17. This multicrore scam was allegedly executed by then naib tehsildar level officer Varinderpal Singh Dhoot and others at a village in Mohali district in which government land was fraudulently transferred to persons other than rightful beneficiaries. The ED has found several incriminating evidences in these raids, which were still going on the time of filing of this report.
Before ED registering a case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), vigilance bureau (VB) Punjab in 2020 had blown the lid of this scam, in which mutation of about 100 acre land was done wrongly. A case under various sections of the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 was registered against several persons, including naib tehsildar, kanungo, patwaris, property dealers and other private persons. Several arrests were also made by VB in this case.