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Manesar land scam: CBI raids 20 places including Bhupinder Singh Hooda's properties

By FnF Desk | PUBLISHED: 03, Sep 2016, 11:39 am IST | UPDATED: 04, Sep 2016, 13:22 pm IST

Manesar land scam: CBI raids 20 places including Bhupinder Singh Hooda's properties New Delhi: In a swift action the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday morning conducted raids at the properties including residences owned by former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister M L Tayal and Union Public Service  Commission (UPSC) member Chattar Singh in connection with the release of land at Manesar, Gurgaon.

Sources said the raids were being conducted at 20 locations including Gugugram, Panchkula, Chandigarh, Panchkula, Delhi and  Rohtak. Raid is also in progress at Hooda's Panchkula residence. Raid is also being conducted at the residence of Congress Spokesperson Ran Singh Mann who is also a close aide of Hooda.

The land located in three villages Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnoula was allotted between 2004 and 2007, during the part tenure of both INLD's Om Prakash Chautala and Congress Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

The land acquisition process had started in August 2004 by the Om Prakash Chautala-led INLD government which wanted to  set up an Industrial Model Town (IMT) in the name of former deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal.

CBI registered offences last year

The CBI on September 17,2015 had registered offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against unknown public servants of Haryana Government and unknown private persons.

CBI took over the investigation under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 registered at Police Station Manesar, District Gurgaon (Haryana) on the allegations that the private builders in conspiracy with unknown public servants of Haryana Government had purchased around 400 acres of land from the farmers and land owners of village Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnoula, District Gurgaon at throw away prices, under the threat of acquisition by the Government, during the period between August 27, 2004 and August 24, 2007

In this process, initially, the Haryana Government had issued notification U/s 4, 6 and 9 of Land Acquisition Act for acquisition of land measuring about 912 acres for setting up an Industrial Model Township at Villages Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnoula in Distt. Gurgaon. After that, all the land had allegedly been grabbed from the land owners by the private builders under the threat of acquisition at throwaway rates.

Land release in violation of govt policy

An order was also passed by the competent authority i.e. the Director of Industries on August 24, 2007 releasing this land from the acquisition process and the land was released in violation of the government policy, in favour of the builders, their companies and agents, instead of the original land owners.

"In the said manner, land measuring about 400 acres whose market value at that time was above Rs. four crore per acre (approx) amounting to about Rs. 1,600 crores (approx) was allegedly purchased by the private builders and others from the innocent land owners for only about Rs. 100 crores (approx). An alleged loss of Rs.1,500 crores (approx) to the land owners of village Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnoula of District Gurgaon was caused," a CBI release said.

The CBI in September 2015 had taken over the probe into allegations of releasing the land acquired by various agencies including Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) and Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) during the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government in the state.

CBI collected documents earlier this year


The CBI earlier in January this year had collected documents pertaining to the allotment of land to several leading real estate developers in Haryana from the revenue department of the state government as part of its investigations into the alleged irregularities in the acquisition of 400 acres of land by the private firms in Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnoula villages in Gurgaon in 2007.

The then state government had however withdrawn the notification on August 24, 2007 but by that time the private builders had allegedly grabbed the land from farmers at throwaway prices.
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