Rs 126cr land scam: FIR likely to name more bureaucrats

GREATER NOIDA

: Many more bureaucrats, both serving and retired, are likely to be named in the Rs 126-crore

land scam

in which former

YEIDA

CEO P C Gupta is the prime accused.

Gupta, who was arrested in Datia in Madhya Pradesh on Friday, was brought to Greater Noida on Saturday. He was questioned by SSP Ajay Pal Sharma for almost two hours in Greater Noida after which he was taken to Meerut. In Meerut, an anti-corruption court granted his 10 days’ custody to Greater Noida police.

SSP Ajay Pal Sharma told TOI that Gupta had named many officials during questioning but these had to be verified. According to sources, Gupta has named a former principal secretary-level official whose relative is a director in one of the companies that purchased land in seven villages in Mathura. The police had filed an FIR against Gupta and 20 others on June 3 for acquiring 57.15 hectares of land in YEIDA area at an inflated price from relatives and acquaintances, though the land actually had no utility.

The FIR states that Gupta informed his relatives and acquaintances about the acquisition in advance, and the latter bought the land from farmers. YEIDA then acquired the land from them at double the rates in 2013-14 when Gupta was CEO.

The Yamuna Authority had purchased 4.19 hectares of land from ANG Infrastructure Consultants Private Limited and the former paid Rs 3.9 crore to the company. The rest of the land was purchased from five other companies and individuals. The inquiry report of divisional commissioner Prabhat Kumar had named Sanjeev Kumar and Gaurav Soni as directors of the company. Sources said that Soni is linked to a retired bureaucrat who served at various posts including as principal secretary (home) in the state.

Gaurav Soni, however, did not respond to a message sent by TOI. Gupta’s links with a Noida-based builder in whose company he owns shares have also come to the fore. Gupta and the builder own an under-construction 100-bedded hospital coming up in Greater Noida’s Omega sector.

The police, however, said they had to verify Gupta’s claims. The SSP also said that Gupta was being diplomatic throughout his questioning.

“Gupta has been throwing many names but this is a very complicated case. We need to verify the claims and corroborate them. We need many more documents to verify links of other officials that might be involved. Names of as many as 23 officials are being verified,” he said.

While CEO

PC Gupta

and tehsildar Suresh Chand had retired, seven other officials named in Prabhat Kumar’s report are still serving in different positions in the state. At least one of these officials is serving with YEIDA while another went on leave soon after he was transferred to another district before an FIR was lodged against Gupta.

Prabhat Kumar told TOI that letters seeking permission to lodge FIR against these officials have been sent to the state government. “The FIR will be lodged once the government approves the action,” he told TOI.

Gupta brought to Gr Noida without transit remand, cops deny illegality

The district police seemed to have bypassed a legal procedure as they brought PC Gupta directly to Greater Noida after his arrest in Datia in Madhya Pradesh. Farha Faiz, an advocate in the Supreme Court told TOI that in such cases, it is mandatory for the police to get a transit remand from the local court where the arrest has been made and then transport him to the city where the crime has been committed for production before the concerned court. According to sources, Gupta was brought to Greater Noida by road early on Saturday morning after completing formalities at the local police station in Datia from where he was arrested. In the afternoon, he was taken to Meerut and produced in an anti-corruption court around 4.30pm. Piyush Singh, circle officer, Greater Noida-II said that they had produced Gupta in Meerut court within 24 hours of his arrest. “Hence it is felt that transit remand is not required in such cases,” he said.