Expanding the scope of its investigation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is now scanning all decisions taken by the Punjab Housing Department after Chief Secretary KAP Sinha replaced Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann as chairman of all development authorities in June 2025.The decision to appoint the Chief Secretary as chairman of all development authorities was taken by the Punjab Council of Ministers.The decisions taken at the Executive Committee meetings of GMADA relate to the change of land use from agricultural to residential or commercial/mixed-use categories in the master plans of development authorities and the acquisition of over 5,000 acres in Mohali and New Chandigarh. The central agency is investigating how statutory planning powers and land acquisition processes were allegedly and systematically misused.Sources said the ongoing search and surveillance operations, which began on Tuesday morning and were underway till the filing of this report, relate to the Rs 57 crore waiver to Remigate Infra Developers Pvt Ltd that’s developing a food court on a 1.3-acre site in Phase VIII, Mohali; Rs 191.16 crore as arranger fee to a Gujarat-based merchant banker hired to raise Rs 15,000 crore for the acquisition of 5,000 acres of land; and other files related to change of land use, acquisition of land for Eco City-3 and the Aerotropolis expansion project.With over 100 ED personnel and members of the central security force involved in the operation, one of the longest conducted by the agency in Punjab, additional mattresses were brought from a nearby gurdwara, indicating that the exercise would continue for several more hours. Food arrangements were also made for investigators and GMADA officials.An official source said one of the key focus areas of the investigation was the advance aggregation of agricultural and wasteland parcels earmarked under the Mohali Master Plan and their subsequent compulsory acquisition at substantially higher rates in New Chandigarh, besides the waiver of large outstanding penalties on defaulted GMADA allotments.Apart from continuing to question top Housing Department officials, including Housing Secretary Vikas Garg, ED sleuths are examining the role of land aggregator Tila Consultants and Contractors Pvt Ltd. Besides assisting the authority in large-scale land acquisitions, the company’s senior functionaries were allegedly involved in guiding politicians and bureaucrats in purchasing land ahead of acquisitions.The investigation has also revealed that the consultancy firm acted in close association with GMADA officials, facilitating irregularities in land acquisition. “Compensation granted in such cases are also under investigation. The role of another company, Tirupati Infraprojects, is being thoroughly investigated. The firm is already under the scanner of both the ED and the CBI and has faced around 12 raids by the two agencies in recent years. It controls Remigate Buildestates (India) Pvt Ltd and MB Infrabuild Pvt Ltd, which had acquired two sites in Mohali and subsequently received financial relief running into crores from the GMADA. Pecuniary benefits amounting to Rs 57 crore were granted through the waiver of statutory dues to Remigate Infra Developers Pvt Ltd,” the ED said.The ED has initiated search and survey operations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, at multiple premises across Delhi, Mohali, Chandigarh, Panchkula and Ludhiana in connection with a case involving M/s Tirupati Infra Projects Pvt Ltd. The action covers the promoters, directors and associated persons of M/s Tirupati Infraprojects Pvt Ltd, M/s Remigate Buildestates (India) Pvt Ltd, M/s MB Infrabuild Pvt Ltd, M/s Mera Baba Reality Associates Pvt Ltd and M/s Mera Baba Infrastructure Pvt Ltd.Simultaneously, surveys under Section 16 of the PMLA are being conducted at the offices of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Government of Punjab, to gather evidence relating to the accused entities.