ED Raids Mohali, Chandigarh in Real Estate Money Laundering Probe

The Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at about a dozen locations in Mohali and Chandigarh on Thursday as part of a money laundering investigation into two real estate groups accused of obtaining fraudulent Change of Land Use permissions and duping investors.

Agency officials said the raids targeted premises linked to the Suntec City project developed by Indian Cooperative Housing Building Society and its promoter Ajay Sehgal, as well as ABS Townships, Altus Space Builders, Dhir Constructions and associates. The searches were carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

During the operation, ED teams seized approximately Rs 1 crore in cash, including Rs 21 lakh found in two bags thrown from a ninth-floor window at Western Towers, a highrise in Mohali's Kharar area. The bags were allegedly discarded as search parties entered premises linked to two middlemen, IT professional Nitin Gohal and Pritpal Singh. Officials recovered the scattered Rs 500 notes and also found incriminating documents suggesting interference by private individuals in Punjab government functioning.

The probe into Suntec City stems from a November 2022 FIR by Punjab Police at Mullanpur...