The Enforcement Directorate on Monday arrested Haryana's former MLA Dilbag Singh and his aide Kulwinder Singh in connection with an illegal mining case and an e-conveyance scam.
The central agency had been conducting raids on the premises of Singh, belonging to the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), and Congress MLA from Sonipat, Surender Panwar, since January 4 which concluded today. At least five illegal foreign-made arms, 300 cartridges, over 100 liquor bottles, cash worth Rs 5 crore and around 5 kg bullion (gold or silver valued in weight) were recovered from the premises of Dilbag Singh and his associates on January 5 - the second day of the raids.
Both Dilbag Singh and Kulwinder Singh were taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and the two will be produced before a local court where the Enforcement Directorate will seek their further custody.
The money laundering case stems from multiple FIRs of the Haryana Police lodged to probe alleged illegal mining of boulders, gravel and sand that took place in the past in Yamuna Nagar and adjoining districts even after the lease expired and a ban was imposed by the National Green Tribunal.
The probe agency is additionally probing an alleged fraud in the 'e-ravan' scheme, an online platform that was started by the Haryana government in 2020 to simplify collection of royalties and taxes and to keep tax evasion in mining regions at bay.
Source: India Today