One more accused in the alleged Rs 126 crore land scam at Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) was arrested on Thursday by the Gautam Budh Nagar police from his residence in sector 44 of Noida.
The police, in June, had received a complaint from YEIDA regarding the scam against 21 persons including an IAS officer who was a former CEO with YEIDA, PC Gupta, at Kasna police station, Greater Noida.
The police had earlier arrested Gupta, however, 19 are still on the run.
The accused has been identified as Ramesh Bansal, a director at one of the companies from whom YEIDA had acquired 57.15-hectare land at an inflated price in Mathura that actually had no utility, said the police. He was absconding from the last six months.
Nishank Sharma, Circle Officer- 1, Greater Noida, said, “One of our informers had given us a tip-off that Bansal would be visiting his residence. We then conducted a raid at around 7:30 am and nabbed him from his house.”
During the investigation, said the police, it was found that seven companies with the help of senior officers of the YEIDA had done the alleged fraud.
Sharma further added that Bansal was the director of one of the seven companies — Data Infrastructure Pvt limited — which were identified for the alleged fraud. “The relatives and friends of the then CEO allegedly owned the companies. They purchased the unnecessary 57.15 hectare of land that the authority later acquired at an inflated price,” said Sharma.
The accused has been arrested under section 420 (Cheating) and the relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the Indian Penal Code.
Arun Veer Singh, CEO YEIDA, said that recovery notices will be issued to arrested accused.
