Enforcement Directorate attaches assets worth Rs 10.66 crore in Patnitop hotel land encroachment case

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Patnitop hotel encroachment investigation

Highlights

The Enforcement Directorate attached assets worth Rs 10.66 crore, including land and buildings belonging to four hotels in Patnitop, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
The investigation found that Hotel Holiday Inn carried out 7,552.74 square feet of construction beyond the approved plans, while the other three hotels were operating commercially without permission.
Earlier, in 2025, properties worth Rs 30.72 crore had been attached under two provisional attachment orders, and enforcement agencies remain vigilant in the case.

This article was translated from the original. Read the original version by our correspondent here.

Attached properties and basis of the investigation

According to the Enforcement Directorate, its Jammu Sub-Zonal Office made the provisional attachment under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The properties include land and buildings belonging to Hotel Holiday Inn, Hotel Broadway, Hotel Hollywood and Hotel Mountview in Patnitop, Udhampur district.

The investigation began on the basis of an FIR registered by the CBI's Anti-Corruption Bureau in Jammu. The allegations are that several hotels, guest houses, resorts, cottages and residential units in the Patnitop area were using residential buildings for commercial purposes, building beyond approved limits, and operating businesses in restricted areas such as dense forests, agricultural land and residential zones, while officials of the Patnitop Development Authority overlooked compliance failures.

The agency said that the CBI filed six charge sheets in 2023, naming eight hotel owners associated with six hotels, along with several officials of the Patnitop Development Authority. The cases invoke provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Prevention of Corruption Act, the Ranbir Penal Code, the Registration of Tourist Trade Act, 1978, and the Jammu and Kashmir Forest Act, 1987.

Construction violations and wider implications

The Enforcement Directorate's investigation found that although Hotel Holiday Inn had building approval, it carried out 7,552.74 square feet of unauthorized construction beyond the approved plans. The agency says Hotel Broadway, Hotel Hollywood and Hotel Mountview were operating commercially as hotels without the required permissions.

The agency said that hotel buildings, unauthorized construction, the land associated with them, and properties identified as equivalent to the proceeds from unauthorized commercial use were attached as proceeds of crime. Earlier, in 2025, two provisional attachment orders were issued in the same case, attaching properties worth Rs 30.72 crore.

The latest action indicates that enforcement agencies continue to closely monitor compliance with land-use rules, construction approvals and operating permits in the tourism and hospitality sector. Further investigation in the case is ongoing.

Our earlier report on the ED's provisional attachment in the alleged money laundering case involving Ocean Seven Buildtech Private Limited (OSBPL) detailed the attachment of movable and immovable properties and bank balances worth Rs 136.42 crore. The report said the investigation is focused on the alleged diversion of funds collected from buyers, the failure to develop projects and the transfer of land after the FIR was filed, while further action in the case is ongoing.

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