Punjab IAS officer Kanwal preet Brar appears before ED again in Mohali land scam probe

Punjab Newsline | Jalandhar

Punjab cadre IAS officer Kanwalpreet Brar appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Jalandhar on Thursday for the second time in 10 days in connection with an alleged land scam linked to a Mohali-based real estate project. She arrived at the ED office around 10 a.m., signed the attendance register, and went inside without speaking to the media.

ED is investigating alleged irregularities in the approval of Change of Land Use (CLU) permissions granted for the project. According to the agency, questions have been raised over the process through which land-use changes were approved, and Brar is being questioned as part of the ongoing probe.

Earlier, the ED had summoned her on August 18, when she was reportedly questioned for nearly eight-and-a-half hours. The agency has now called her again as it continues to examine the case.

The investigation stems from a complaint filed in 2020 by Karamjit Singh, a landowner from Palheri village in Mohali. He alleged that promoters of Suntec City prepared forged consent documents involving his 53-kanal land and the land of 14 other farmers, covering a total of 30.5 acres. The complaint claimed that fake signatures and forged thumb impressions were used on the documents.

A probe conducted by then Mohali SP (Investigation) Harmandeep Hans reportedly found evidence of forgery and criminal conspiracy. Based on the findings, an FIR was registered at Mullanpur police station in November 2022, which later became the basis for the ED’s money laundering investigation.

Following the FIR, the ED registered a money laundering case and conducted raids at 12 locations in Mohali and Chandigarh. The agency questioned officials and directors linked to Suntec City, ABS Township, and Eltus Space Builders.

During the raids, ED teams also searched the residence of businessman Nitin Goyal. Reports claimed that cash worth ₹21 lakh was allegedly thrown from the ninth floor during the operation. The agency later arrested Suntec City’s chief promoter, Ajay Sehgal, in connection with the case.

After his arrest, Sehgal was produced before a special PMLA court in Mohali, which remanded him to ED custody until May 27, 2026. The investigation into the alleged land fraud and money laundering network remains ongoing.