ED Raids Multiple Locations Of Former Punjab Minister In Forest Scam

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday raided multiple locations in Punjab associated with former state forest minister and Congress leader Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and some contractors in an alleged case of money laundering in connection with a forest scam, reported PTI quoting official sources as saying. 

The enforcement agency searched about 14 locations in the state under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. 

The locations include premises of the 63-year-old Congress leader and some others, the report added. 

Dharamsot, a five-time MLA was arrested earlier this year by the Punjab Vigilance bureau as part of a case linked to alleged possession of disproportionate assets. 

The federal agency also searched six places related to Jammu and Kashmir Bank in connection with a money laundering case involving Rs 250 crores, the officials said, as per another PTI report.

The agency conducted searches at the premises of the former bank chairperson, the officials said, adding that the fraud was in the name of a fictitious housing society, the River Jhelum Cooperative Housing Building Society. 

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The raids were carried out by the ED’s office in Srinagar under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

In West Bengal, the Central Bureau of Investigation conducted simultaneous raids on Thursday at the residences of several leaders of the Trinamool Congress party, including an MLA and two councillors, for their alleged involvement in irregularities in school recruitment in West Bengal, an official said, reported PTI.

The federal probe agency raided the residence of Jafikul Islam, the MLA of Domkal in Murshidabad district, and Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) councillor Bappadittya Dasgupta and Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation councillor Debraj Chakraborty, according to the report. 

“These raids are being conducted as a part of our investigation into the teachers’ scam. The raids are on. We are questioning the people whose homes and offices are being raided,” the official told PTI.