During searches by the Enforcement Directorate against former INLD MLA Dilbag Singh and his accomplices, foreign-made guns, around 300 cartridges, 5 crore in cash, and more than 100 spirits bottles were found, according to official sources on Friday.
On Thursday, the central agency conducted searches on Singh and Congress MLA Surender Panwar from Sonipat. The raids were related to a money laundering case involving suspected illicit mining in the Yamunanagar district of Haryana and some other areas.
Singh was a Yamunanagar-based member of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).
The sources claimed that from the locations connected to Singh and his associates, approximately 5 crores in cash, “illegal” foreign-made rifles, about 300 cartridges and bullets, more than 100 spirits bottles, 4-5 kilograms of gold biscuits and jewellery, and documents pertaining to assets in India and abroad had been recovered. They claimed that searches are still ongoing in several areas.
The two politicians and associated entities had about 20 addresses in Yamunanagar, Sonipat, Mohali, Faridabad, Chandigarh, and Karnal covered during the searches carried out in accordance with the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act). The money laundering case is the result of many First Information Reports (FIRs) filed by the Haryana Police to investigate previous suspected unlawful mining of boulders, gravel, and sand in Yamunanagar and surrounding areas, even after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned it and the lease had expired.
The Haryana government created the ‘e-Ravana’ system in 2020 with the aim of preventing tax cheating in mining regions and streamlining the collection of royalties and taxes. The central agency is now investigating allegations of fraud related to the scheme. According to sources, a syndicate with links to the two politicians was in charge of the operations.
