ED Attaches Assets of Engineers in Gomti Riverfront Money Laundering Case in Uttar Pradesh

New Delhi: The ED has attached assets worth Rs 1 crore of engineers involved in Lucknow's Gomti riverfront development project, carried out by the previous Samajwadi Party government, in connection with its probe in a money-laundering case, it said Thursday.

The attached properties belong to engineers Roop Singh Yadav (one plot), Anil Yadav (three plots) and a residential flat of SN Sharma, it said.

The Enforcement Directorate issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to undertake the action and attach the properties worth Rs 1 crore.

It had filed a criminal case under the PMLA, taking cognisance of an Uttar Pradesh police FIR against eight engineers for alleged technical, administrative and financial irregularities in the Rs 1,500-crore riverfront beautification project.

It had also carried out raids at multiple locations in the case in January.

The CBI is also probing the case on charges of alleged corruption. It took over the investigation after the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh ordered an inquiry into project, carried out by the previous SP dispensation.

ED said it has evidence that "bribe" was collected from contractors who made payments to these engineers by withdrawing money from bank accounts.

"The accused engineers used financial profile of their wives to channelise, place, layer and project illegally earned money by misuse of the voluntary undisclosed Income Declaration Scheme (IDS), 2016 launched by the government."

It said further investigation into the case is progressing to attach more properties of people involved in money laundering and prosecute them.

The BJP government in UP had sought an investigation into irregularities committed with a "criminal intent" in the implementation of the Gomti river channelisation project and the Gomti riverfront development project by the state's department of irrigation.

It had constituted a committee under retired Allahabad High Court judge Alok Kumar Singh, which had indicated prima facie irregularities in the project in its report dated May 16, 2017.