Puducherry temple land grab | Enforcement Directorate starts probe into case

ED registers money laundering case in Puducherry temple land grabbing scam. The agency has sought details from various wings of the UT administration & asked the temple trustee to appear before the probe agency.

In a major development in the sensational Kamatchiamman temple land grabbing scam in Puducherry, the Directorate of Enforcement’s (ED) Chennai Office has registered a case of money laundering. Multiple sources in the Union Territory administration have confirmed the initiation of the probe by the ED, to The Hindu.

Sources said the Chennai office of the ED registered a case on June 30, 2023, based on a probe by the Puducherry police, and has now sought particulars from various wings of the territorial administration about details pertaining to the temple land.

The economic offences wing of the Central government has also asked the temple trustee to appear before the probe agency on July 19 to record his statement.

“Last Friday, the Under Secretary (Vigilance) received a communication from the ED office about the registration of a money laundering case based on a probe by the CB-CID.  We have also received a written request from the ED’s Chennai office seeking assistance in probing the case,” an official said.

The Under Secretary has been asked by the ED to give necessary instruction to the Sub-Registrar, Deputy Collector, North, Director of Survey, District Registrar, Collector, Commissioner of Hindu Religious Institutions, Puducherry Planning Authority (PPA), Public Works Department (PWD) and Superintendent of Police of the CB-CID to cooperate with the ED in providing specific details regarding the case.

Particulars of the case sought by the agency include details of the encumbrance certificate, will, sale deed and property registration with regard to the two pieces of land belonging to the temple, one extending to around 31,000 sq ft and the other to 33,000 sq ft in Rainbow Nagar, a prime location in the heart of Puducherry, which were grabbed, allegedly in connivance with Revenue Department officials, with beneficiaries reported to include a BJP legislator and his family.

The agency has sought specific details from the PPA and PWD as a multi-storeyed structure has come up on one of the plots usurped by the culprits, a highly-placed official in the administration told The Hindu.