NEW DELHI: ED has attached two hotels in J&K’s Patnitop town, Hotel Trinetra Resorts and Hotel Green Orchid — together worth Rs 15 crore in a money laundering case related to illegal encroachment on forest land under the Patnitop Development Authority.
Several hotels and resorts are under scanner for generating ‘proceeds of crime’ by illegally encroaching on forest land, and creating private residences and commercial properties. These two hotels have been accused of excess construction beyond approved limits and operating businesses in dense forests, and agricultural and residential areas, which are prohibited for commercial use.
The agency said its probe revealed that Hotel Trinetra Resorts & Hotel Green Orchid were built beyond area permitted by PDA. Both had undertaken illegal construction beyond approved limits.
