Jalandhar: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Jalandhar, on Friday night arrested Punjab-based builder Ajay Sehgal in a money laundering case linked to forged consent letters allegedly used to obtain change of land use (CLU) permissions for a real-estate project in Mohali.Sehgal, secretary of Indian Cooperative House Building Society, was on Saturday produced before a Mohali court, which remanded him in ED custody till May 27.The case had drawn attention earlier this month after a video of cash being thrown from a balcony during ED raids went viral on social media. During searches conducted on May 7 at eight premises linked to Indian Cooperative House Building Society and ABS Township Pvt Ltd, cash worth Rs 21 lakh was allegedly tossed from a balcony in Mohali, but was later recovered by ED officials.In a statement, the ED said it was probing the role of Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (Gmada) officials and other public servants who allegedly supported the fraud and received kickbacks. The agency indicated more arrests were likely.The ED investigation stems from a Punjab Police FIR filed on complaints by farmers alleging their consent was forged to secure CLU permissions.According to ED, Sehgal prepared fake consent letters for 30.5 acres belonging to 15 landowners to obtain CLU for the ‘Suntec City’ mega housing project. The agency alleged signatures and thumb impressions of landowners were forged.Besides residential plots, Sehgal allegedly developed La Canela residential complex and District 7 commercial complex on the basis of the same CLU permissions. ED also alleged units were sold before registration and RERA approvals.The agency claimed Sehgal failed to transfer plots reserved for economically weaker sections to Gmada.ED said investigations had revealed “large-scale irregularities” in Gmada and the department of town and country planning in granting approvals to developers in exchange for illegal gratification.
