Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Hooda's home raided by CBI in the illegal land allotment case.
Highlights
- CBI raids in connection with an alleged scam involving land in Manesar
- Allotment of 400 acres between 2004 and 2007 is under CBI scanner
- CBI raids conducted in 20 locations across Delhi, Chandigarh and Gurugram
Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda of the Congress was raided by the CBI on Saturday in connection with an alleged scam involving land in Manesar, 45 km from Delhi.
In raids in 20 locations across Delhi, Chandigarh, Rohtak and Gurugram, the CBI or Central Bureau of Investigation has reportedly also searched the homes and offices of a top bureaucrat, SS Dhillon, and two former officers ML Tayal and Chattar Singh.
A CBI team arrived at Mr Hooda's homes in Haryana's Rohtak and Panchkula a little after 8 am this morning. Later, some Congress leaders called on the Hoodas; the former chief minister's son Deepender Hooda is a three-time Congress lawmaker representing Rohtak.
The raids are related to the allotment of 400 acres of land in Manesar between 2004 and 2007, allegedly acquired at dirt-cheap rates from villagers. The land was allegedly sold to private builders. The CBI filed a case last year alleging that villagers were cheated out of Rs 1,500 crore in the deal.
Mr Hooda headed a Congress government in Haryana for 10 years till 2014.
He has reportedly also been indicted for his alleged role in facilitating illegal land deals in a report by a former judge who studied controversial transactions in Haryana including one involving Robert Vadra, whose mother-in-law, Sonia Gandhi, heads the Congress.
The investigation was ordered by ML Khattar, who took over as Chief Minister of a BJP government after Mr Hooda's defeat.