Enforcement Directorate tightens noose on Patnitop hotels, attaches four over ‘illegal construction’

Valued at nearly Rs 10.66 crore, the properties include hotel buildings and the land on which they stand, an ED spokesperson said. (File Photo)

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said Monday it had provisionally attached four hotels at the hill resort of Patnitop in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Valued at nearly Rs 10.66 crore, the properties include hotel buildings and the land on which they stand, an ED spokesperson said. Earlier, the ED had issued two provisional attachment orders in 2025, attaching properties worth approximately Rs 30.72 crore in the same case.

The ED initiated its investigation based on an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Jammu, against owners and directors of hotels, guest houses, resorts, cottages and residential properties in the Patnitop area, as well as officials of the Patnitop Development Authority (PDA).

The allegations relate to the commercial use of residential buildings, construction beyond approved limits and operation of commercial establishments in prohibited areas, including dense forest, agricultural and residential zones. The investigation also revealed alleged lapses by PDA officials in ensuring compliance with prescribed rules and regulations, the spokesperson said.

In 2023, the CBI had filed six chargesheets against eight hotel owners associated with six hotels and several PDA officials under various provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Prevention of Corruption Act, Ranbir Penal Code, Registration of Tourist Trade Act, and Jammu and Kashmir Forest Act.

The ED investigation revealed that one of the hotels, despite having sanctioned building permission, had raised unauthorised construction measuring 7,552.74 square feet beyond the approved building plan, the spokesperson said.

He said hotels were being commercially operated without the requisite permissions to run hotels.

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Accordingly, the hotel buildings, unauthorised constructions, appurtenant land and identified properties equivalent in value to the proceeds generated through such unauthorised commercial exploitation have been provisionally attached as Proceeds of Crime under the PMLA, the spokesperson said.