Latest news with #SitaramGupta
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
ED arrests top official YS Reddy, 3 others in Vasai-Virar illegal construction scam
Hyderabad: The has arrested YS Reddy, deputy director (town planning) of the Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) and a native of Hyderabad, in a money laundering case linked to an alleged illegal construction and corruption racket. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now On Aug 13, the ED also arrested former VVCMC commissioner and IAS officer Anil Kumar Khanderao Pawar, builder and former Bahujan Vikas Aghadi corporator Sitaram Gupta, and builder Arun Gupta under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The ED previously conducted searches in Hyderabad in connection with this case. All four accused were produced before the PMLA special court on Aug 14, which granted the ED six days' custody. Earlier operations, according to the agency, yielded the seizure of ₹10.27 crore in cash, diamond-studded jewellery and bullion worth roughly ₹23.25 crore and the freezing of bank balances, shares, mutual funds and fixed deposits totalling ₹13.86 crore, totalling Rs 47 crore. The case arises from multiple FIRs filed by the Mira-Bhayandar police commissionerate against builders, local operatives and others for unauthorised residential and commercial construction on govt and private land within VVCMC limits since 2009. Investigators allege a bribe of roughly ₹150 per square ft was fixed to "turn a blind eye" and refrain from action against rampant unauthorised construction on govt and private land According to the ED, 41 illegal buildings were raised on land reserved for a sewage treatment plant and a dumping ground in the approved development plan of Vasai-Virar. Investigators allege that builders first raised the unauthorised structures and then duped homebuyers by fabricating approval documents to sell the units. The agency said buyers were misled despite the developers' prior knowledge that the structures were unauthorised and liable to be demolished. On July 8, 2024, the Bombay high court ordered demolition of all 41 buildings. A special leave petition filed by families residing in these buildings was later dismissed by the Supreme Court. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now VVCMC completed the demolition on Feb 20, 2025. The ED claims that large-scale illegal construction in the area persisted from 2009 onwards. It alleges that Sitaram Gupta and Arun Gupta illegally alienated about 60 acres of govt and private land using forged agreements and powers of attorney, and sold the parcels to local builders who, between 2013 and 2021, raised 41 buildings with the alleged connivance of civic officials. As per the ED, an organised cartel of VVCMC functionaries, including the commissioner, deputy director (town planning), junior engineers, architects, chartered accountants and liaison agents, operated in concert to facilitate unauthorised projects in exchange for bribes. Commissioner Anil Pawar is alleged to have organised and overseen the cartel. After his appointment, the commission for development permissions was allegedly fixed at ₹20-₹25 per square ft for the commissioner and ₹10 per sq ft for Reddy, calculated on the total area of each project, investigators alleged. During multiple searches, the ED said it seized extensive documentary evidence indicating the accused floated numerous entities in the names of family members, relatives and benamidars to channel and launder illicit proceeds. The ED said its money laundering probe will continue alongside criminal proceedings arising from the original FIRs, and that further action under the PMLA will follow based on the trail of proceeds of crime.
NDTV
4 days ago
- NDTV
Ex-Vasai-Virar Civic Body Chief, Builders Arrested In Construction Scam Case
Mumbai: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested four individuals, including senior civic officials and builders, in connection with an illegal construction case linked to the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation (VVCMC). The arrested accused are Mr Anil Powar, IAS, former Municipal Commissioner of VVCMC; Mr Sitaram Gupta, builder and corporator from the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi; Mr Arun Gupta, builder; and Mr YS Reddy, suspended Deputy Town Planner of VVCMC. All were taken into custody on August 13 under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). ED officials told the ANI that the investigation revealed that certain builders had constructed illegal buildings and sold them to unsuspecting buyers. Following a Supreme Court order, these illegal structures were demolished, leaving many homebuyers homeless. During the probe, ED conducted search operations at multiple locations, seizing large amounts of cash, jewellery, and incriminating electronic evidence. Officials cited WhatsApp chats between the suspended Deputy Town Planner and the former Municipal Commissioner, allegedly indicating the existence of an organised cartel to collect bribes on a per-square-foot basis in exchange for project approvals. The accused will be produced before a special PMLA court in Mumbai, where the agency will seek their custody for further investigation. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Indian Express
01-07-2025
- Indian Express
ED raids 16 places in second round of crackdown against syndicate behind unauthorised constructions in Vasai-Virar
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at 16 locations in the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) region Tuesday in connection with a money laundering probe into an illegal building construction case, suspecting a well-oiled syndicate operating behind it. This is the second round of searches in the same case. In May, the agency raided 13 locations in Nalasopara, Vasai, and Virar near Mumbai and Hyderabad. It seized approximately Rs 8.6 crore in cash and Rs 23.25 crore worth of diamond-studded jewellery and bullion from the house of Y S Reddy, deputy director of town planning, Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVMC). Agency sources said the second round of searches primarily covers liaison officers, architects, and middlemen who allegedly coordinated between builders and VVMC officials. The ED's money laundering investigation is based on multiple FIRs registered by the Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar police commissionerate against builders, local henchmen and others for 'illegal construction of residential-cum-commercial buildings on government and private land' under the jurisdiction of VVMC since 2009. Earlier, the documents seized during previous searches revealed a large-scale scam involving illegal construction in the Vasai Virar area, with complicity from officials of VVMC, according to the ED. During the previous searches, ED covered the house of a former Bahujan Vikas Aghadi Party (BVA) corporator and an alleged criminal having links with a gangster. According to the ED, 41 illegal buildings in question were constructed on the land reserved for 'sewage treatment plant' and 'dumping ground' as per the approved development plan of Vasai Virar city. 'The accused builders and developers deceived the public at large by constructing illegal buildings on such land and subsequently selling it to them by fabricating approval documents,' the ED said. 'Even with prior knowledge that these buildings were unauthorised and would eventually be demolished, the developers misled the people by selling rooms in these buildings, thereby committing serious fraud,' the agency added. The 41 buildings were demolished on February 20, 2025, by the order of the Bombay High Court, which the Supreme Court later upheld. Families living in these buildings were left homeless. According to the ED, key perpetrators of the alleged scam in the VVMC area have been identified as Sitaram Gupta, Arun Gupta, among others. Reddy, the VVMC officer at the centre of the alleged fraud, was earlier arrested in April 2016 by the Thane unit of the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) for allegedly offering Rs 25 lakh to a Shiv Sena corporator to stop going ahead with court cases against him.
Hans India
01-07-2025
- Hans India
ED searches 16 locations in Vasai-Virar land scam
Mumbai: In a crackdown against politician-builder-official nexus, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday searched 16 premises, including offices of architects, in a case related to illegal construction of homes and offices on 60 acres of government land in Maharashtra's Vasai-Virar region. On Tuesday, one of the ED teams searched a premises in Padmaraj building in Vasai West. The investigators arrived at the spot at 7 a.m. in two vehicles, said an area resident. As part of the land scam, the accused duped home and office buyers by fabricating documents and carrying out construction on government and private land, and selling these illegal properties to them, said an ED official, adding that 41 such illegal buildings were pulled down by civic agencies in February this year. The case pertains to "illegal construction of residential-cum-commercial buildings on government and private land" under jurisdiction of "Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC)" since 2009, the ED official said. It has been found that the key perpetrators of the large-scale scam in the jurisdiction of VVMC are Sitaram Gupta, Arun Gupta and others, including the civic agency's Deputy Director of Town Planning, Y.S. Reddy. In May, the ED had searched 13 different premises across Mumbai and Hyderabad, seizing cash and jewellery worth nearly Rs 32 crore in the case related to illegal construction of homes and offices on government land in Vasai-Virar city. During searches at Reddy's premises, Rs 8.6 crore and diamond-studded jewellery and bullion worth Rs 23.25 crore were seized, an official said. Over a period of time, 41 illegal buildings were constructed on the land reserved for "Sewage Treatment Plant" and "Dumping Ground" as per the approved development plan of Vasai Virar city, he added. "Even with prior knowledge that these buildings were unauthorised and would eventually be demolished, the developers misled the people by selling rooms in these buildings, thereby committing serious fraud," the ED said in a statement. The federal agency said the Bombay High Court had on July 8, 2024, ordered the demolition of all 41 buildings. Thereafter, a Special Leave Petition was filed before the Supreme Court by the families residing in 41 illegal buildings, which was dismissed. The demolition of all 41 buildings was completed by VVMC on February 20, 2025. Maharashtra's fifth largest city, Vasai-Virar, is an agglomeration of four previously governed municipal councils: Vasai (Bassein), Virar, Nallasopara and Navghar-Manikpur, as well as a few towns to the east and west of the urban area. It lies in the Konkan division.
NDTV
01-06-2025
- NDTV
Fraudster Posing As Army Colonel Arrested From Old-Age Home In Punjab
New Delhi: A 77-year-old man who had been absconding for over a decade after jumping bail in a cheating case involving the Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) was arrested from an old-age home in Punjab's Patiala, the Delhi Police said on Sunday. The accused, Sitaram Gupta, a native of Mansa in Punjab was impersonating as a Colonel in the Indian Army and duped people by offering flats and shops under fictitious AWHO schemes, police in a statement said. "Gupta, a postgraduate in Economics and History from Panjab University and a former student of ex-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had been evading trial in a 2007 cheating case registered at Vivek Vihar police station in Delhi," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Apoorva Gupta in the statement said. He allegedly took Rs 56,000 from a complainant after offering him a flat and shop under the AWHO scheme and issued forged receipts, the officer said. After his arrest in 2007 and subsequent release on bail, Gupta went underground and failed to appear before court, leading to the issuance of non-bailable warrants. On April 26 this year, the Karkardooma Court declared him a proclaimed offender. He had started his career as a contractor supplying oil to Army cantonments across India, the statement said. During this period, he gained insider knowledge of the Army's functioning, which he later used to impersonate as a senior Army officer and lure unsuspecting people with promises of employment and housing benefits. "He moved to Delhi in 1987 and began posing as a Colonel. He conned several people on the pretext of recruitment in the Army and real estate opportunities through AWHO," the DCP said. A special team was formed which was tasked with tracking Gupta. Based on a tip-off, the team conducted surveillance and zeroed in on the old-age home in Patiala where he was living under a false identity. "He had changed his appearance and cut off ties with his family to stay under the radar. After confirming his identity, he was apprehended from the shelter," the officer added. During interrogation, Gupta admitted to his involvement in multiple cases of cheating, including three other fraud cases registered with the Shakarpur police station and the Crime Branch in Delhi, related to fake Army job offers. Police said Gupta's wife has passed away and he has two children. He had been leading a secluded life to evade arrest, shifting locations and using different mobile numbers
