SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, April 13: The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which began raids early in the morning at 22 locations linked to IAS officer and former Deputy Commissioner (DC) Chhavi Ranjan in three states of Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal continued its operations till late in the evening.
The persons whose premises were raided in connection with the fraudulent sale of army land and other plots during the last three years also included several circle officers, circle inspectors, land brokers, Associates of Jagatbandhu Tea estate besides Chhavi Ranjan and his close relative Lovely in Jamshedpur.
According to sources, there was a special security arrangement (three different doors) inside the master bedroom flat of Chhavi Ravi Ranjan at Longiya Enclave near the landmark Milkit hotel in Jamshedpur.
The residential flat in question is in the name of Chhavi Ranjan’s close relative Lovely. The ED team called his relative from Adityapur and got the flat opened and the relative was also the caretaker of the flat.
Though no official comments on the recoveries are available, sources said that the ED stumbled upon several incriminating documents and evidences which may expose a huge land scam in Ranchi during around two years’ tenure of Chhavi Ranjan as DC by tampering and manufacturing land documents.
He had been transferred and posted as director in the social welfare department in July last year amidst controversy over the stone mines lease granted to Chief Minister Hemant Soren granted by him.
BJP legislature party leader Babulal Marandi has alleged that the scam is worth Rs 10,000 crore and Chhavi Ranjan is main character of this land fraud.
Meanwhile, according to sources, the ED team is also raiding the locations of land trader Ashraf Khan and Birendra Sahu. The ED has recovered a fake seal of the Calcutta registrar’s office from Afsar Khan’s place in Ranchi. The documents received by ED also have the seal of the Kanke Zonal Officer. The agency has confiscated all the recovered documents. Sahu is alleged to have links with the Sahibganj scamsters too.
There is information about Chhavi Ranjan that he probably had an apprehension that the ED would interrogate him, so he did a mock drill before questioning him. Some papers related to him have been found, from which it appears that he had prepared answers to the possible questions of the ED in the style of interrogation.
During the raid at the house in Simdega of CI Bhanu Pratap Prasad of Badgai zone, the ED recovered many deeds, land papers, register two etc.
After which the ED team detained Bhanu Pratap Prasad and brought him to Ranchi. Bhanu Prasad’s ancestral house is situated at Jhulan Singh Chowk near Simdega bus stand.
According to sources, Bhanu Pratap used to keep land related papers hidden in the house. If needed, the land was bought and sold illegally by tampering with the land documents related to the house.
The ED is taking this action in connection with the purchase and sale of 4.55 acres of land occupied by the army at Bariatu in Ranchi. Earlier, on November 5, 2022, the ED had raided more than two dozen locations related to Kolkata businessman Amit Agarwal and another businessman Vishnu Agarwal, Pradeep Bagchi, Dilip Ghosh and two registrars involved in buying and selling.
ED raid in Bihar’s Gopalganj
In Bihar’s Gopalganj district, the ED team is conducting raids at Bantail under the Kuchayakot police station, the ancestral village of the SDPO posted in Dhanbad. The ED officials questioned the family members.
The ED also raided the residence of Bharat Prasad, who runs the Pragya Kendra, and the SBI branch operating in the premises at Hazaribagh, Bagodar Marg, BSF Meru Chowk.
It also carried our search operations at the Asansol hideout of Pradeep Bagchi, close to Chhavi Ranjan.
The ED team raided the hideout located in the third floor of Udyanchal tower in Ushagram under Asansol South police station area. According to information received from sources, a five-member team of ED from Ranchi reached Pradeep Bagchi’s house at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, although Pradeep Bagchi was not present at his house. The lock in his flat was unlocked. The maid who cooked food in the flat had the key to the house. He was called in the morning and the flat was opened. Investigation is going on in Pradeep Bagchi’s house in Asansol in the presence of the maid.
A few days ago, the ED had pasted a notice on behalf of ED on the door of Pradeep’s flat. In the notice, he was asked to appear at the ED office in Ranchi for questioning. After that this action started on Thursday.
