PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE / Dehradun
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), Dehradun, has arrested Naveen Kumar Mittal in connection with a high-profile land fraud case related to Dehradun. A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Dehradun sent Mittal to ED custody for five days.
Notably, the ED had launched its investigation based on several FIRs registered by the Uttarakhand police over alleged forgery of land records and fraudulent sale of land. Police charge sheets in two cases had named Mittal as the prime accused and main beneficiary of the alleged fraud.
According to the ED sources, Mittal used forged documents to show his co-accused as the rightful owner of the land and then sold it to unsuspecting buyers. The agency said that around Rs 3.24 crore in suspected proceeds of crime had been deposited into a bank account opened in the name of the co-accused. The money was later transferred to entities allegedly controlled by Mittal.
The ED further said that the forensic examination of original bank records by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) showed that Mittal himself would operate the account.
The agency also said that Mittal avoided repeated summonses, influenced witnesses and tried to create documents to make the transactions appear genuine. Searches at his premises in August had led to the seizure of documents and digital devices, the ED officers said.
