Chandigarh: Former Punjab chief secretary Anurag Verma has sought more time to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with an ongoing probe into an alleged multi-crore scam involving Suntec City and Altus Space Builders Pvt Ltd in Mohali.
Verma had been summoned by the ED to appear on August 31, but he did not appear before the investigating officers. Instead, he wrote to the agency requesting that his appearance be postponed. The ED is expected to issue fresh summons with a new date.
Verma is currently serving as Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue, but at the time of the alleged irregularities, he was heading the Housing and Urban Development Department.
The ED is examining his alleged role in violations related to change of land use (CLU) and alleged illegal layout changes that are claimed to have benefited private builders.
The investigation also involves allegations surrounding the Muirwoods Ecocity mega project. According to the allegations, after changes were made to the layout, an application seeking transfer of group housing sites to the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) was rejected, following which the sites were transferred to Dheer Constructions, owned by Gaurav Dheer.
