Hyderabad (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Telugu actor Mahesh Babu for questioning in a money laundering case linked to an alleged real estate fraud case perpetrated by some local groups, officials said Tuesday.
Babu, 49, has been asked to depose on April 28 at the federal probe agency's office here and get his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.
The case pertains to Sai Surya Developers, a prominent real estate firm based in Vengal Rao Nagar, the Surana Group and some others. The ED had conducted searches in the case on April 16 at premises located in Secunderabad, Jubilee Hills and Bowenpally.
Babu is not being investigated as an accused at present and may not be involved in the scam. He may have endorsed the realty projects of the accused companies not knowing about the alleged fraud, they said.
The agency is looking to understand transactions worth Rs 5.9 crore which the actor received from the companies as endorsement fee via cheques and cash, they said.
The actor could not be contacted for a comment.
The ED case stems from a Telengana Police complaint against Sathish Chandra Gupta, proprietor of Sai Surya Developers and Narendra Surana, director of Bhagyanagar Properties Ltd. and others for "defrauding" and "cheating" gullible investors of their hard earned money in the name of advance for sale of plots involving huge amounts.
The accused orchestrated "fraudulent" schemes involving unauthorised land layouts, selling same plots to different customers, accepting payments without proper agreements, and false assurances of plot registrations, the agency said in a statement issued post the searches.
It said the actions of the accused caused financial losses to numerous investors.
"By cheating the general public with predetermined and dishonest intention, they generated proceeds of crime which was diverted and laundered for wrongful gain to themselves and related entities," the ED had said.
It said "incriminating" documents related to the deposit made by the investors and about "unaccounted" cash transactions worth around Rs 100 crore were recovered during the raids.
"Unaccounted" cash of 74.50 lakh was seized from the premises of Narendra Surana and Surana group of companies, it said in the statement.
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Lucknow, May 11 (PTI): The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday said that more than 350 unauthorised religious sites, including madrasas, mosques, mazars and Eidgahs, have been identified and subjected to sealing or demolition in recent days, an official statement issued here said.
Acting on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's clear directive that no religious encroachment will be tolerated, the administration in districts such as Pilibhit, Shravasti, Balrampur, Bahraich, Siddharthnagar and Maharajganj has launched a sweeping campaign, it said.
The authorities have systematically identified illegal structures and taken strict action, continuing operations even on Sunday.
The chief minister has made it clear that encroachment in the name of any religion will not be allowed and all violators, especially those running unrecognised religious institutions, will face legal consequences, the statement said.
On May 10 and 11, 104 madrasas, one mosque, five mazars and two Eidgahs built illegally on public and private land were identified in Shravasti. All were issued notices and sealed, it said.
One illegal madrasa on public land was demolished and two unrecognized madrasas on private land were sealed, the statement added.
In Bahraich, officials identified 13 madrasas, eight mosques, two mazars and one Eidgah illegally constructed on government land.
After issuing notices, five were sealed and 11 were demolished, including eight madrasas, two mosques and one mazar, the statement said.
In Siddharthnagar, the authorities identified four mosques and 18 madrasas and one more madrasa for illegal construction. Notices were issued to these structures. Five madrasas were sealed and nine were demolished. In total, action was taken against 23 illegal structures in the district, it said.
In Maharajganj’s Nautanwa tehsil, Parsamalik village, an unrecognized madrasa operating on Maktab land was shut down based on a report submitted by the District Minority Welfare Officer.
The building’s keys were handed over to the local police station in-charge. So far, 29 madrasas and five mazars constructed through encroachment on public and private land have been demolished in the district.
In past two days in Lakhimpur Kheri, two mosques, one Eidgah on public land along with eight madrasas on private land were found to be illegally constructed.
Of the 13 structures identified, one was served a notice, nine were sealed and three have been demolished so far, the statement said.
The district authorities in Pilibhit have identified an illegal mosque built on public land in Bharatpur village, covering an area of 0.0310 hectares.
According to the district magistrate, a notice has been issued to the parties involved, seeking a response within 15 days. Action against the illegal construction will be taken after the notice period ends, it said.
On Sunday, an under-construction madrasa on public land in Virpur Semra village, Tulsipur tehsil, was demolished in Balrampur. So far, 30 madrasas, 10 mazars and one Eidgah have been demolished in the district.
Ten of them were built illegally on public land, while 20 were constructed without authorization on private land, the statement said.