Corruption Watch

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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>How a broker turned jhuggi tokens into gold cards </b>
Rajesh Kumar | New Delhi
Vigilance to probe Ashok Malhotra's JJ resettlement plots scam

Property agent Ashok Kumar Malhotra, who came into the limelight after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recovered<b> 52 cars and 10 motorcycles, all bearing fancy VIP numbers, from his residence in Mukherjee Nagar</b>,  <!--emo&:o--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ohmy.gif' /><!--endemo--> ran a super-profit business of trading in slum colony plots. Starting as a chhole-kulche vendor, Malhotra used his contacts in politics and bureaucracy to operate a machinery which ensured that an innocuous cheap metal jhuggi token, which entitled its holder to a plot, was turned into a gold mine. 

Sources said that thousands of plots, meant for allotment to slum dwellers in resettlement colonies, were fraudulently purchased by Malhotra and then resold at exorbitant prices. The modus operandi was that he would first purchase demolition slips (which came in the form of a metal token with a jhuggi number embossed on it) from slum dwellers once their jhuggis were cleared. Thereafter, he took possession of the plot against the token in the DDA resettlement colony. The supporting documents were forged with the connivance of DDA and Government officials. The DDA follows a policy of providing land measuring 25 and 12.5 square metres to slum dwellers in resettlement colonies.

<b>For instance, Hudson Line and Dhirpur slum dwellers were relocated by the DDA under the Kingsway Camp slum relocation scheme to Gandhi Vihar colony near Gopalpur in North-West Delhi. This scheme was introduced for the refugees from Pakistan. Malhotra had purchased tokens and demolition slips from slum dwellers and later taken possession of the plots from the Authority on behalf of dwellers. </b>

Similarly, Dhirpur slum dwellers were relocated by the DDA under Kingsway Camp slum relocation scheme to Gandhi Vihar colony near Gopalpur in North-West Delhi. Malhotra had purchased coupons and demolition slips from slum dwellers and taken possession of land on their behalf from the Authority.

Several slums were relocated under the Kingsway Camp relocation scheme in the surrounding areas of Mukherjee Nagar. Sources said that Malhotra and the four DDA officials named in the scandal fraudulently purchased most of the plots in Gandhi Vihar. "Several agencies such as the Slum and JJ Department and the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) besides the DDA were involved in the allotment of plots to slum dwellers," the source said.

The slum trade brought him quick money and he made big killings in the late 1990s. His lifestyle changed with ostentation becoming part of his personality. The cars recovered from him are either in his name or in the name of his family members. <b>The canteen contracts, which he had in the Vidhan Sabha and the DDA, were a front for his slum trade operations. </b>Problems began when he started bullying his neighbours in Mukherjee Nagar and tried to grab their properties.

Complaints were lodged against him and questions were asked about his possession of a fleet of cars. A case was filed in the Delhi High Court, which directed the CBI to investigate the matter. Following the raids by the CBI, DDA vice-chairman Dinesh Rai has ordered a Vigilance probe in the matter. He has asked the Authority's Chief Vigilance Officer to gather all the facts pertaining to the documents of plots that were allegedly recovered during raids on the premises of Malhotra. The CBI has booked Malhotra for forgery and cheating. The CBI during the raid on Wednesday night had recovered 5,500 tokens of plots, which had been allotted to fictitious persons in JJ clusters, from his residence. 
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