Documents recovered during day-long searches
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 17: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today conducted simultaneous raids at eight locations in Jammu and Punjab including premises of former Minister Choudhary Lal Singh, his wife and ex MLA Kanta Andotra, a Revenue official and businessmen in connection with money laundering in land allotment to RB Educational Trust of Choudhary in Kathua district.
click here to watch video
Raids were aimed at effecting recovery of certain documents which have been seized, the ED officials said. A case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has been registered by the ED.
Raids were conducted at RB Educational Trust at village Krandi Khurd in Hiranagar tehsil of Kathua district, residential premises of Lal Singh and his wife Kanta Andotra (Chairperson RB Educational Trust) at Ward No. 2 in Kathua, house of Ravinder Singh, then Patwari and now Naib Tehsildar, at Gandhi Nagar, residence of Sunil Singh son of Multan Singh, a businessman, at Khanpur Chowk in Pathankot, house of Asheesh Singh Kotwal, an Advocate, at Maralian Road, Miran Sahib, Jammu, house of Bharat Bushan son of Krishan Dass at Karan Nagar, Kathua, residential premises of Ajay Mangotra and Anil Mangotra sons of VC Mangotra at Sainik Colony and house of Veena Devi wife of Ashok Kumar of South Extension Channi Himmat.
Officials said Bharat Bushan, Mangotra brothers and Veena Devi were attorney holders of the land arranged for the Trust run by Choudhary Lal Singh’s wife.
“We were looking for certain documents during the searches. Some of the documents have been recovered,” they said, adding the raids concluded peacefully this evening at all the places.
The Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) has already registered a separate case in land case of RB Educational Trust nearly three years ago.
The CBI had registered the FIR against the R B Educational Trust for occupying a huge tract of land over and above the ceiling of standard 100 kanal (12.5 acre) fixed by the Jammu and Kashmir Government under provisions of the J&K Agrarian Reforms Act, 1976.
Nearly half a dozen retired and serving Revenue officials, who had allegedly helped the Trust get excess land in violation of the Agrarian Reforms Act, were also booked by the CBI. The CBI had earlier conducted searches on the premises of the accused leading to the recovery of documents relating to their moveable and immoveable property etc.
The CBI FIR has followed a preliminary enquiry by the investigating agency in June 2020 following “source information” regarding the “encroachment of huge tract of public/government/forest land in Kathua district by unscrupulous elements in violation of J&K Agrarian Reforms Act 1976 and in connivance with revenue and forest officials”, sources said.
The CBI filed a charge sheet in the case in October 2021, alleging the involvement of accused revenue officials in criminal conspiracy with the R B Educational Trust through Kanta Andotra to allow it to retain land beyond the permissible ceiling of standard 100 kanal (12.5 acre).
To enable the R B Educational Trust to retain land beyond 100 kanals, the revenue officials allegedly showed 74.02 kanals (9.25 acres) as orchard and another 32 kanal (4 acres) was “gha charai” (grazing land), which did not come under the ceiling fixed under Agrarian Reforms Act.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
