The incident
On Thursday, 7 May 2026, the Enforcement Directorate conducted a series of raids across Mohali and Chandigarh in connection with an alleged change-of-land-use and housing fraud case. The most widely reported moment of the day was at Flat No. 906, Western Towers, in Chajju Majra, Kharar, where bags of cash were reportedly thrown from the ninth floor as the search team arrived. According to eyewitnesses and viral video footage, two bags stuffed with ₹500 denomination notes were flung from the ninth floor shortly after the ED team reached the building. One bag burst open on impact, scattering bundles across the society grounds, while a second bag was picked up by a man in a white vehicle who drove away before officials could secure the area. By late evening, the search teams had seized about ₹1 crore in cash across all locations, including the roughly ₹21 lakh recovered from the two bags flung from the Western Towers window. The PioneerBusiness Standard
The wider operation
The Western Towers visit was one stop in a much larger search day. The agency conducted searches at twelve locations in Punjab and Chandigarh linked to real estate firms, builders, and their associates, in connection with alleged large-scale irregularities in obtaining Change of Land Use (CLU) licences from the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA). The premises searched included those connected to the Suntec City project, its promoter Ajay Sehgal, ABS Townships, Altus Space Builders, Dhir Constructions and associates, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The money laundering case itself stems from a November 2022 FIR registered by the Punjab Police at Mullanpur in Mohali, in which Sehgal and co-accused Suresh Kumar Bajaj are alleged to have prepared fake consent letters for 30.5 acres of land belonging to 15 landowners, and to have used those letters to obtain Change of Land Use approval from GMADA for the Suntec City development. The ED has further alleged that the promoters and ICHBS, the cooperative housing society behind Suntec City, collected more than ₹150 crore by admitting members without executing sale deeds, and that the same allegedly fraudulent CLU was used to develop the La Canela residential complex and the District 7 commercial project. GMADA had earlier cancelled the ICHBS licence after victims approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court. ANI News + 4
Who lives in Flat 906
Western Towers itself is not a builder in the case. The agency's interest in Flat 906 is what was allegedly happening inside it. The flat is linked to one Nitin Gohal, described as an IT professional, who is now under the agency's scanner. ED sources have alleged that Gohal acted as a key facilitator who helped defaulting builders evade regulatory action by arranging political protection. The cash-throwing incident occurred when search parties began raids at the premises of two alleged middlemen, Nitin Gohal and Pritpal Singh Dhinda, who according to ED officials helped builders that had defaulted on payments owed to GMADA and arranged political protection for them. Officials have identified Gohal as a close associate of Rajbir Singh Ghuman, Officer on Special Duty to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The agency has stated that documents recovered from the two individuals suggest interference of private individuals in government functioning in the state of Punjab. As of Thursday evening, no arrests had been reported, and the ED was still ascertaining the exact value of the seized cash and reviewing documents from the raided premises. The Pioneer + 4
The political backdrop
The proximity of the named individuals to the Chief Minister's office turned the cash-throwing footage into a political event within hours. Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia posted on X linking the seized cash to the CM's OSD's circle, framing the incident as evidence of a larger hawala racket. Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa highlighted the proximity of the raids to the Chief Minister's office. Separately, the Kharar Municipal Council Executive Officer was transferred on the same day, with the local administration stating publicly that the move had no connection with the ED raid. The ED's broader operation has, on its own description, sent ripples through Punjab's real estate sector and political corridors, with simultaneous searches conducted at around a dozen locations in Mohali, Chandigarh and Patiala. The Pioneer + 2
What this means for the Mohali property market
For anyone watching Mohali real estate from the outside, the story is best read at two layers. The first is the immediate one. The ED action is targeted at named promoters and at a small group of alleged intermediaries, not at the residents of Western Towers or at the Kharar housing market as a whole. The second layer is structural. GMADA, responsible for planned growth around Chandigarh, has previously faced allegations of lax oversight in CLU approvals, with developers allegedly diverting investor funds meant for project development while failing to pay dues, leaving buyers in limbo and the authority out of pocket. The Suntec City allegation, that CLU approval was obtained on the basis of forged consent letters covering 30.5 acres, points at the same approval system that sits behind every private township and group-housing project on the Kharar to New Chandigarh corridor. If the case advances, the questions that any serious buyer in the corridor already has reason to ask become unavoidable. Was the CLU on this land granted on the basis of genuine consent from the original khatedars. Has the developer paid GMADA dues in full and on schedule. Has the promoter, or anyone connected to the project, been named in any ongoing PMLA proceedings. These are not new questions. The Suntec City case has simply made them concrete. The Pioneer
How buyers can do their own checks
The single most useful document for any buyer in the GMADA jurisdiction is the project's CLU letter, read alongside the underlying revenue records that show how the land moved from the original landowners to the developer. A serious dealer or seller should be willing to share both. Beyond that, the Punjab Real Estate Regulatory Authority maintains a public list of registered projects and complaints filed against them. GMADA's own public notices, which mostly cover land acquisition, scheme launches and tenders, are a useful long-term signal of which areas remain inside the planned framework. For the Aerotropolis pockets specifically, where the active tradeable instrument is the Letter of Intent, our LOI price tracker and our investor guide cover what an LOI is, how it is verified at the GMADA counter, and how its rate has moved across Pockets A through D over recent quarters. NRI buyers can find a step-by-step due-diligence walkthrough at our NRI corner.
What is still unclear
A number of things in the Western Towers story are not yet on the public record. The exact total cash recovered from Flat 906, beyond the roughly ₹21 lakh in the two thrown bags, has not been officially confirmed by the ED. The identity and motive of the person who picked up the second bag and drove away has not been disclosed. No arrest, attachment order or chargesheet against Gohal or Dhinda has been formally announced at the time of writing. The ED has said that it is still ascertaining the exact value of the seized cash and is continuing its scrutiny of documents seized from the raided premises. The Suntec City case itself, though more than three years old at the FIR stage, remains at the investigation phase under PMLA, and trials in such matters typically run for years. We will update this article as the position of the agency and the courts becomes clearer. The Pioneer
---
This article reports facts placed in the public domain by news outlets and the Enforcement Directorate as of 9 May 2026. It is not a legal opinion. mohaliaerotropolis.com is not a RERA-registered agent and does not represent any party named or unnamed in the proceedings. Readers considering a property purchase should consult a qualified lawyer before relying on any specific allegation contained here.
The incident
On Thursday, 7 May 2026, the Enforcement Directorate conducted a series of raids across Mohali and Chandigarh in connection with an alleged change-of-land-use and housing fraud case. The most widely reported moment of the day was at Flat No. 906, Western Towers, in Chajju Majra, Kharar, where bags of cash were reportedly thrown from the ninth floor as the search team arrived. According to eyewitnesses and viral video footage, two bags stuffed with ₹500 denomination notes were flung from the ninth floor shortly after the ED team reached the building. One bag burst open on impact, scattering bundles across the society grounds, while a second bag was picked up by a man in a white vehicle who drove away before officials could secure the area. By late evening, the search teams had seized about ₹1 crore in cash across all locations, including the roughly ₹21 lakh recovered from the two bags flung from the Western Towers window. The PioneerBusiness Standard
The wider operation
The Western Towers visit was one stop in a much larger search day. The agency conducted searches at twelve locations in Punjab and Chandigarh linked to real estate firms, builders, and their associates, in connection with alleged large-scale irregularities in obtaining Change of Land Use (CLU) licences from the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA). The premises searched included those connected to the Suntec City project, its promoter Ajay Sehgal, ABS Townships, Altus Space Builders, Dhir Constructions and associates, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The money laundering case itself stems from a November 2022 FIR registered by the Punjab Police at Mullanpur in Mohali, in which Sehgal and co-accused Suresh Kumar Bajaj are alleged to have prepared fake consent letters for 30.5 acres of land belonging to 15 landowners, and to have used those letters to obtain Change of Land Use approval from GMADA for the Suntec City development. The ED has further alleged that the promoters and ICHBS, the cooperative housing society behind Suntec City, collected more than ₹150 crore by admitting members without executing sale deeds, and that the same allegedly fraudulent CLU was used to develop the La Canela residential complex and the District 7 commercial project. GMADA had earlier cancelled the ICHBS licence after victims approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court. ANI News + 4
Who lives in Flat 906
Western Towers itself is not a builder in the case. The agency's interest in Flat 906 is what was allegedly happening inside it. The flat is linked to one Nitin Gohal, described as an IT professional, who is now under the agency's scanner. ED sources have alleged that Gohal acted as a key facilitator who helped defaulting builders evade regulatory action by arranging political protection. The cash-throwing incident occurred when search parties began raids at the premises of two alleged middlemen, Nitin Gohal and Pritpal Singh Dhinda, who according to ED officials helped builders that had defaulted on payments owed to GMADA and arranged political protection for them. Officials have identified Gohal as a close associate of Rajbir Singh Ghuman, Officer on Special Duty to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The agency has stated that documents recovered from the two individuals suggest interference of private individuals in government functioning in the state of Punjab. As of Thursday evening, no arrests had been reported, and the ED was still ascertaining the exact value of the seized cash and reviewing documents from the raided premises. The Pioneer + 4
The political backdrop
The proximity of the named individuals to the Chief Minister's office turned the cash-throwing footage into a political event within hours. Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia posted on X linking the seized cash to the CM's OSD's circle, framing the incident as evidence of a larger hawala racket. Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa highlighted the proximity of the raids to the Chief Minister's office. Separately, the Kharar Municipal Council Executive Officer was transferred on the same day, with the local administration stating publicly that the move had no connection with the ED raid. The ED's broader operation has, on its own description, sent ripples through Punjab's real estate sector and political corridors, with simultaneous searches conducted at around a dozen locations in Mohali, Chandigarh and Patiala. The Pioneer + 2
What this means for the Mohali property market
For anyone watching Mohali real estate from the outside, the story is best read at two layers. The first is the immediate one. The ED action is targeted at named promoters and at a small group of alleged intermediaries, not at the residents of Western Towers or at the Kharar housing market as a whole. The second layer is structural. GMADA, responsible for planned growth around Chandigarh, has previously faced allegations of lax oversight in CLU approvals, with developers allegedly diverting investor funds meant for project development while failing to pay dues, leaving buyers in limbo and the authority out of pocket. The Suntec City allegation, that CLU approval was obtained on the basis of forged consent letters covering 30.5 acres, points at the same approval system that sits behind every private township and group-housing project on the Kharar to New Chandigarh corridor. If the case advances, the questions that any serious buyer in the corridor already has reason to ask become unavoidable. Was the CLU on this land granted on the basis of genuine consent from the original khatedars. Has the developer paid GMADA dues in full and on schedule. Has the promoter, or anyone connected to the project, been named in any ongoing PMLA proceedings. These are not new questions. The Suntec City case has simply made them concrete. The Pioneer
How buyers can do their own checks
The single most useful document for any buyer in the GMADA jurisdiction is the project's CLU letter, read alongside the underlying revenue records that show how the land moved from the original landowners to the developer. A serious dealer or seller should be willing to share both. Beyond that, the Punjab Real Estate Regulatory Authority maintains a public list of registered projects and complaints filed against them. GMADA's own public notices, which mostly cover land acquisition, scheme launches and tenders, are a useful long-term signal of which areas remain inside the planned framework. For the Aerotropolis pockets specifically, where the active tradeable instrument is the Letter of Intent, our LOI price tracker and our investor guide cover what an LOI is, how it is verified at the GMADA counter, and how its rate has moved across Pockets A through D over recent quarters. NRI buyers can find a step-by-step due-diligence walkthrough at our NRI corner.
What is still unclear
A number of things in the Western Towers story are not yet on the public record. The exact total cash recovered from Flat 906, beyond the roughly ₹21 lakh in the two thrown bags, has not been officially confirmed by the ED. The identity and motive of the person who picked up the second bag and drove away has not been disclosed. No arrest, attachment order or chargesheet against Gohal or Dhinda has been formally announced at the time of writing. The ED has said that it is still ascertaining the exact value of the seized cash and is continuing its scrutiny of documents seized from the raided premises. The Suntec City case itself, though more than three years old at the FIR stage, remains at the investigation phase under PMLA, and trials in such matters typically run for years. We will update this article as the position of the agency and the courts becomes clearer. The Pioneer
---
This article reports facts placed in the public domain by news outlets and the Enforcement Directorate as of 9 May 2026. It is not a legal opinion. mohaliaerotropolis.com is not a RERA-registered agent and does not represent any party named or unnamed in the proceedings. Readers considering a property purchase should consult a qualified lawyer before relying on any specific allegation contained here.
The incident
On Thursday, 7 May 2026, the Enforcement Directorate conducted a series of raids across Mohali and Chandigarh in connection with an alleged change-of-land-use and housing fraud case. The most widely reported moment of the day was at Flat No. 906, Western Towers, in Chajju Majra, Kharar, where bags of cash were reportedly thrown from the ninth floor as the search team arrived. According to eyewitnesses and viral video footage, two bags stuffed with ₹500 denomination notes were flung from the ninth floor shortly after the ED team reached the building. One bag burst open on impact, scattering bundles across the society grounds, while a second bag was picked up by a man in a white vehicle who drove away before officials could secure the area. By late evening, the search teams had seized about ₹1 crore in cash across all locations, including the roughly ₹21 lakh recovered from the two bags flung from the Western Towers window. The PioneerBusiness Standard
The wider operation
The Western Towers visit was one stop in a much larger search day. The agency conducted searches at twelve locations in Punjab and Chandigarh linked to real estate firms, builders, and their associates, in connection with alleged large-scale irregularities in obtaining Change of Land Use (CLU) licences from the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA). The premises searched included those connected to the Suntec City project, its promoter Ajay Sehgal, ABS Townships, Altus Space Builders, Dhir Constructions and associates, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The money laundering case itself stems from a November 2022 FIR registered by the Punjab Police at Mullanpur in Mohali, in which Sehgal and co-accused Suresh Kumar Bajaj are alleged to have prepared fake consent letters for 30.5 acres of land belonging to 15 landowners, and to have used those letters to obtain Change of Land Use approval from GMADA for the Suntec City development. The ED has further alleged that the promoters and ICHBS, the cooperative housing society behind Suntec City, collected more than ₹150 crore by admitting members without executing sale deeds, and that the same allegedly fraudulent CLU was used to develop the La Canela residential complex and the District 7 commercial project. GMADA had earlier cancelled the ICHBS licence after victims approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court. ANI News + 4
Who lives in Flat 906
Western Towers itself is not a builder in the case. The agency's interest in Flat 906 is what was allegedly happening inside it. The flat is linked to one Nitin Gohal, described as an IT professional, who is now under the agency's scanner. ED sources have alleged that Gohal acted as a key facilitator who helped defaulting builders evade regulatory action by arranging political protection. The cash-throwing incident occurred when search parties began raids at the premises of two alleged middlemen, Nitin Gohal and Pritpal Singh Dhinda, who according to ED officials helped builders that had defaulted on payments owed to GMADA and arranged political protection for them. Officials have identified Gohal as a close associate of Rajbir Singh Ghuman, Officer on Special Duty to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. The agency has stated that documents recovered from the two individuals suggest interference of private individuals in government functioning in the state of Punjab. As of Thursday evening, no arrests had been reported, and the ED was still ascertaining the exact value of the seized cash and reviewing documents from the raided premises. The Pioneer + 4
The political backdrop
The proximity of the named individuals to the Chief Minister's office turned the cash-throwing footage into a political event within hours. Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia posted on X linking the seized cash to the CM's OSD's circle, framing the incident as evidence of a larger hawala racket. Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa highlighted the proximity of the raids to the Chief Minister's office. Separately, the Kharar Municipal Council Executive Officer was transferred on the same day, with the local administration stating publicly that the move had no connection with the ED raid. The ED's broader operation has, on its own description, sent ripples through Punjab's real estate sector and political corridors, with simultaneous searches conducted at around a dozen locations in Mohali, Chandigarh and Patiala. The Pioneer + 2
What this means for the Mohali property market
For anyone watching Mohali real estate from the outside, the story is best read at two layers. The first is the immediate one. The ED action is targeted at named promoters and at a small group of alleged intermediaries, not at the residents of Western Towers or at the Kharar housing market as a whole. The second layer is structural. GMADA, responsible for planned growth around Chandigarh, has previously faced allegations of lax oversight in CLU approvals, with developers allegedly diverting investor funds meant for project development while failing to pay dues, leaving buyers in limbo and the authority out of pocket. The Suntec City allegation, that CLU approval was obtained on the basis of forged consent letters covering 30.5 acres, points at the same approval system that sits behind every private township and group-housing project on the Kharar to New Chandigarh corridor. If the case advances, the questions that any serious buyer in the corridor already has reason to ask become unavoidable. Was the CLU on this land granted on the basis of genuine consent from the original khatedars. Has the developer paid GMADA dues in full and on schedule. Has the promoter, or anyone connected to the project, been named in any ongoing PMLA proceedings. These are not new questions. The Suntec City case has simply made them concrete. The Pioneer
How buyers can do their own checks
The single most useful document for any buyer in the GMADA jurisdiction is the project's CLU letter, read alongside the underlying revenue records that show how the land moved from the original landowners to the developer. A serious dealer or seller should be willing to share both. Beyond that, the Punjab Real Estate Regulatory Authority maintains a public list of registered projects and complaints filed against them. GMADA's own public notices, which mostly cover land acquisition, scheme launches and tenders, are a useful long-term signal of which areas remain inside the planned framework. For the Aerotropolis pockets specifically, where the active tradeable instrument is the Letter of Intent, our LOI price tracker and our investor guide cover what an LOI is, how it is verified at the GMADA counter, and how its rate has moved across Pockets A through D over recent quarters. NRI buyers can find a step-by-step due-diligence walkthrough at our NRI corner.
What is still unclear
A number of things in the Western Towers story are not yet on the public record. The exact total cash recovered from Flat 906, beyond the roughly ₹21 lakh in the two thrown bags, has not been officially confirmed by the ED. The identity and motive of the person who picked up the second bag and drove away has not been disclosed. No arrest, attachment order or chargesheet against Gohal or Dhinda has been formally announced at the time of writing. The ED has said that it is still ascertaining the exact value of the seized cash and is continuing its scrutiny of documents seized from the raided premises. The Suntec City case itself, though more than three years old at the FIR stage, remains at the investigation phase under PMLA, and trials in such matters typically run for years. We will update this article as the position of the agency and the courts becomes clearer. The Pioneer
---
This article reports facts placed in the public domain by news outlets and the Enforcement Directorate as of 9 May 2026. It is not a legal opinion. mohaliaerotropolis.com is not a RERA-registered agent and does not represent any party named or unnamed in the proceedings. Readers considering a property purchase should consult a qualified lawyer before relying on any specific allegation contained here.