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Bokaro land case: ED searches 16 locations in Jharkhand and Bihar

The case pertains to the alleged fraudulent acquisition and illegal sale of 103 acres of protected forest land at Mauja Tetulia, Bokaro.

Sources said the ED team conducted searches at the Bokaro Forest Department office, the Circle Officer’s office, as well as multiple locations in Ranchi. (Express File)

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday conducted searches at 16 locations in Jharkhand and Bihar as part of a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged forest land scam in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district.

The case pertains to the alleged fraudulent acquisition and illegal sale of 103 acres of protected forest land at Mauja Tetulia, Bokaro. It is alleged that the land mafia, in collusion with officials, handed over the land to a private company.

Sources said the ED team conducted searches at the Bokaro Forest Department office, the Circle Officer’s office, as well as multiple locations in Ranchi, including the offices of a construction company and the residences of some individuals associated with it. Searches were also conducted in Ranchi’s Kanke and Hatia localities.

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The case came to light in 2022 after the ED’s initial probe revealed that a Forest Department plot in the Chas police station area was wrongly recorded as barren land in 2013 and subsequently sold to a private entity. Subsequently a case was filed.

The state CID began its own investigation under the direction of Jharkhand DGP Anurag Gupta. When contacted, DGP Gupta declined to comment.

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