The Enforcement Directorate’s zonal office team has arrested former Pathankot Additional Deputy Commissioner (Rural Development) Kuldeep Singh and Nipun Mahajan, associated with stone-crusher and mining operations, in connection with a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case.The special judge of a PMLA court in Jalandhar, Priya Sood, has granted custody of both the accused to the ED till November 16.The agency has been investigating the case since July 2024 and had lodged an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) on the basis of report of Vigilance Bureau, Amritsar, lodged in August 2023. The FIR concerns the fraudulent transfer of 734 kanal and 1 marla (approximately 92 acres) of common village (shamlat) land at Bhattian and Gol villages in Pathankot to private persons. The land lies in the Ravi belt near the international border.The ED had also raided 16 premises related to the accused and other suspected individuals involved in illegal mining on July 16 this year. During the search, the ED had seized Rs 1.75 crore from Nipun Mahajan along with documents and digital devices. His 31 bank accounts having an aggregate balance of Rs 91.34 lakh were frozen.A report of the excavation of the land was done by IIT professor who found that the material worth Rs 11.6 crore had been dug out from the site, for which no mining lease had been granted by the mining department. The ED also examined the seized mobile phone of Nipun Mahajan from which it laid hands on a draft order relating to transfer of 92 acres of shamlat land in Bhattian village in favour of individuals that had been forwarded by him to his friend Vikrant Mahajan and Vijay Kataruchak. The ED is also investigating the role of Nipun Mahajan’s brother Shaleen Mahajan and father Hari Krishan Mahajan.