Connect with us
Sunday,23-February-2025
Breaking News

Crime

Enforcement Directorate attaches property worth several crores in PACL India case

Published

on

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said that it has attached properties worth several crores of rupees belonging to some companies in connection with a money laundering case against PACL India Ltd.

While the attached immovable assets are in the form of land ad-measuring 3,39,984.2 square metres worth Rs 185 crore, the movable assets amounting to Rs 7,51,78,480 are in the form of bank balances of some companies.

The attached companies are DDPL Global Infrastructure Private Ltd (DDPL), Unicorn Infraprojects and Estates Private Ltd (Unicorn) and Brightview Projects and Estates Private Ltd.

A senior ED official said that PACL collected money from the public under different schemes for allotting plots in different parts of the country or giving an option to take back their expected tentative value of land in lieu of the allotted plot under the scheme on maturity.

PACL was in the real estate business and sale of agricultural land through their agents and local office. Getting double benefit by creating easy equity for procurement of land and later taking the benefit on the appreciation of land prices, it had collected amounts running into several crores from investors all over India.

The ED has learnt in the investigation that Directors of PACL siphoned off amounts received from investors and utilised the same for personal gains by investing in various entities.

Investigation also revealed that PACL transferred Rs 101 crore (being investors’ money) in Dhanashree Developers Private Ltd, out of which Rs 26 crore were transferred to DDPL Global Infrastructure Private Ltd.

Further, PACL transferred Rs 2,285.79 crore to Prateek Kumar who invested Rs 94.61 crore in DDPL and Unicorn. It also transferred Rs 110.95 crore in Systematix Venture Capital Trust through its 25 front companies, which was invested in DDPL and Unicorn in form of OFCD and equity.

With the funds received from PACL through various channels, DDPL and Unicorn purchased land parcels at village Tiwri of Vasai in Maharashtra’s Palghar district. DDPL and Unicorn entered into various agreements with different entities for sale of FSI and construction of residential cum commercial projects, from which the two entities generated huge profits.

“Investigation by ED also revealed that the shareholding of DDPL and Unicorn was changed frequently in order to legitimise the funds received from PACL and to ensure that the assets are not taken over and given to investors. The scheme has been cleverly designed to obscure the actual beneficiary of the land and shares to avoid investigation by government agencies. The shareholders of DDPL and Unicorn viz. Hemant Patil and Dharmesh P Shah have claim over these assets without ever actually investing any substantial funds in the companies,” said the official.

Investigation with regard to tracing the remaining Proceeds of Crime is in progress.

Crime

RG Kar victim’s parents yet to secure death certificate even after six months

Published

on

Kolkata, Feb 22: Over six months have passed since the shocking rape and murder of a junior woman doctor at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital but her parents are still to get a copy of her death certificate.

The body of the victim was recovered from a seminar hall within the premises of the state-run institution early on August 9 last year.

The victim’s parents have alleged that they have been unable to get the death certificate till now as the R.G. Kar and Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) authorities are shifting the responsibility onto each other.

According to them, the KMC authorities are claiming that since the “place of death” is R.G. Kar, it is the responsibility of the hospital authorities to provide the death certificate.

On the other, the R.G. Kar authorities claim that if a patient dies within the hospital premises or is even brought dead to the hospital, the death certificate will have to be provided by the KMC authorities, the parents added.

The victim’s parents have further claimed that although they have not got a copy of the death certificate, it has been mentioned in the court documents, as per the statement of a medical officer attached to R.G. Kar.

They now say if the death certificate is mentioned in the court documents, why was a copy of the certificate not handed over to them?

Last week, a special court in Kolkata, which had convicted and sentenced civic volunteer Sanjay Roy in the rape and murder case, directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a fresh progress report on its investigation in the matter on February 24.

Since the special court has already pronounced the sentence for the convict in the main crime of rape and murder, legal circles feel that the fresh progress report will be related to the angle of tampering with the evidence in the case.

It is learnt that the special court had directed the CBI to submit a fresh progress report following a complaint filed by the counsel of the victim’s family accusing the central agency of not updating the court on the progress of investigation in the matter periodically.

Continue Reading

Crime

Ten persons arrested for attack on Congress MP, says Assam CM

Published

on

Guwahati, Feb 21: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday that ten persons have been arrested in connection with the attack on Congress MP Rakibul Hussain.

Taking to social media platform X, CM Sarma said, “The police have identified the individuals involved in the alleged incident of assault on Congress MP Sri Rakibul Hussain.”

He also mentioned that the actions will be taken as per the law.

The Dhubri MP was attacked while attending a public programme in the Nagaon district.

The Congress MP had to run from the spot wearing a helmet to save himself. The security officers of Hussain sustained minor injuries in the attack.

In a viral video, it was seen that some masked miscreants initially showed black flags to the Congress MP and after that attacked him.

In the video, Hussian was seen fleeing from the spot in a two-wheeler to save himself from the attack.

The incident that happened in the Ruporihat locality drew criticism from the opposition with Congress leaders training guns on the BJP government.

Gaurav Gogoi, Deputy Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha, launched a sharp attack on the BJP government as Congress MP Hussain was attacked on Thursday.

Gogoi said, “In Assam, a Congress Lok Sabha MP is attacked by thugs in broad daylight in a busy marketplace. The goons even attack the police security officers and try to snatch their weapons. All of this is recorded on camera. Yet the Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma refuses to ensure that the thugs will be arrested immediately.”

“The Chief Minister should at least think of his constitutional duty towards Assam Police and the innocent civilians in the marketplace. If the goons had got hold of the machine gun, a terrible tragedy could have taken place. The attitude of the Chief Minister will only embolden the thieves, dacoits, smugglers and those accused of murder. Democracy is under threat and people of Assam want freedom from this gunda raj culture,” he added.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Debabrata Saikia said it was a “failure” of the police and administration.

Continue Reading

Crime

New India Co-operative Bank Scam: EOW Arrests Former CEO Abhimanyu Bhoan

Published

on

Mumbai: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has made another arrest in the New India Co-operative Bank scam. Former CEO Abhimanyu Bhoan has been taken into custody, making him the third accused in the case.

The Court has remanded accused into police Custody untill February 28.Bhoan’s arrest follows an ongoing investigation into financial irregularities within the bank, which allegedly led to taken place during his working period.

The authorities suspect his involvement in mismanagement and fraudulent transactions.Further investigation is underway, and officials believe that more arrests may follow in the case.

Continue Reading

Trending