ED tightened its grip on Sahara Group, seized land and financial documents, arrested three accused

Sahara case land: Acting in the Sahara Prime City land case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided several locations of the company and its officials in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and seized electronic evidence. An official gave this information on Tuesday. An ED statement said that the ED’s Kolkata zonal office conducted the search operation on March 2 in Anantapur (Andhra Pradesh), Ballari (Karnataka), Bhubaneswar and Berhampur (Odisha).

The investigating agency said that during the search, digital evidence such as WhatsApp communications, contacts and call records were found and seized. The statement further said, “Financial records and books of accounts of the concerned entities and other incriminating documents were seized for detailed examination.” ED said that during the search operation, statements of several people were recorded under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.

The search operations were related to the sale of a piece of land by Sahara Prime City Limited in Berhampur, Odisha. An ED statement said the search was conducted under Section 17(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with the ongoing investigation into the case of Hamari India and others.”

Irregularities in land sale

The ED said that during the search, it was revealed that about 32 acres of land (out of total 43 acres) in Berhampur, Odisha was fraudulently sold in December 2025 in favor of an employee of Sahara on the basis of a canceled board resolution and in violation of the Supreme Court guidelines.

The ED further said that investigation found that this sale was done on the instructions of the senior management of Sahara Group. A discrepancy has been observed between the reported sales amount and the estimated market value. Earlier, the ED had initiated investigation on the basis of FIRs registered against Hamara India Credit Cooperative Society Limited (HICCSL) and others in several states under sections 420 and 1208 of IPC, 1860.

The statement further said that more than 500 FIRs have been registered against different Sahara Group companies, of which more than 300 relate to offenses prescribed under PMLA, including allegations of large-scale fraud on depositors by forced re-deposits and denial of maturity payments.

Ponzi scheme exposed

ED investigation revealed that Sahara Group was running a Ponzi scheme. The funds deposited were managed in a regulated manner without any depositor monitoring, the amount received on maturity was not returned but reinvested, and the books were manipulated to conceal such non-repayments. The investigating agency said that several transactions within the group revealed that huge liabilities were transferred from one company to another without any commercial sense.

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The ED further said, ‘Finally, the four cooperative societies were facing huge liabilities. Despite cash crunch, Sahara Group continued to collect new deposits. Due to consistent non-payment of matured amounts by depositors, the outstanding liability, which comprises major interest, has increased much more than the principal amount collected from depositors over the years. It has been revealed that huge sums of money were diverted for creating benami properties, giving loans and for personal use, thereby depriving the depositors of their rightful dues.”

Attachment and arrest

In this case, five provisional attachment orders have been issued to attach several lands of Sahara Group, which include benami lands and properties of other people. The ED further said that three people, Anil Valaparampil, Abraham, and OP Srivastava, have been arrested in this case. All these people are still in judicial custody. A charge sheet and a supplementary charge sheet have already been filed.