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The Enforcement Directorate’s Panaji zonal office carried out raids at 13 residential and commercial premises across Goa and Hyderabad Tuesday and Wednesday in connection with a probe in an alleged case of illegal land grabbing of Comunidade lands in Goa.
Seven high-end cars — including a Porsche Cayman, a Range Rover, a Mercedes Benz, a BMW M5 and an Audi A-6 — and Rs 72 lakh cash were seized during the searches, the ED said in a statement.
Comunidade land refers to a system of communal land ownership and management in Goa, where land is collectively held and controlled by the first or original settlers and inhabitants of the village.
The ED initiated investigation under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on the basis of an FIR registered by the Goa Police in April concerning the illegal acquisition of land belonging to Anjuna Comunidade.
The case pertains to an FIR lodged at Mapusa police station in April this year, which accuses several people of fraudulently usurping over 2 lakh square metres of Comunidade land by forging documents.
The complaint stated that all accused persons “dishonestly prepared forged certificates of provisional possession” and used forged documents and succeeded in transferring the rights of landed properties thereby depriving the Comunidade of Anjuna from enjoying the legal rights in the landed properties.
In a statement, the ED said a probe and search operation revealed that the accused persons had illegally mutated more than 3.5 lakh square metres of land in prime areas (Anjuna and Assagao) in their names using forged old documents.
“A portion of these properties was sold to various persons generating additional proceeds of crime. The total market valuation of the implicated land parcels illegally grabbed by the accused persons is likely to exceed Rs 1,200 crore,” the ED said.
It went on to say that multiple bank accounts/fixed deposits “belonging to the individuals involved in these transactions were also frozen”.
“Various incriminating documents related to these land transactions were also recovered and seized during the operation. The ongoing investigation is likely to expose a wider network of persons engaged in illegal land grabbing across Goa,” the ED said.
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