Gurugram: In the latest development in the Enforcement Directorate’s crackdown on Haryana Congress leaders ahead of the assembly elections later this year, Surender Panwar, Congress MLA from Sonipat, was arrested Saturday in a money laundering case linked to illegal mining.
First-time MLA Panwar runs mining businesses in Haryana and Rajasthan. In January this year, the ED had conducted a 36-hour raid on his Sonipat residence as part of the money laundering probe.
Panwar was produced in the district court in Ambala Saturday, where the ED requested for a 14-day remand. The MLA was, however, sent to nine-day custody till 29 July.
The ED’s lawyer alleged that he was involved in a Rs 25 crore money laundering case. There are eight cases against him, one of which was filed by ED. This case was filed in January 2024.
Panwar’s arrest came two days after the central agency raided the properties of another Congress MLA, Rao Dan Singh.
Dan Singh is a four-time MLA from Mahendragarh. His properties in five cities, including Mahendragarh and Gurugram, were searched for over 14 hours. Various documents, bank details and property-related papers were seized.
Notably, both Dan Singh and Panwar are considered close associates of former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who is leading the Congress’s campaign for the Haryana assembly elections, scheduled for October-November. Hooda is currently being seen as the party’s main contender for the chief minister’s position.
Earlier on Friday, the ED had attached properties linked to M3M India Infrastructures Private Limited, valued at Rs 300 crore and spread over 88.29 acres in Gurugram’s Bas Hariya village, in an alleged money laundering case. This was in connection with a case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation alleging corruption involving Hooda, the then chief minister, and others.
ED’s action over the past few days have come after Home Minister Amit Shah’s appearance at a Backward Classes Samman Samaroh, organised by Bharatiya Janata Party at Mahendragarh on 16 July.
Previously, Sikandar Singh, son of another Congress MLA, Dharm Singh Chhokkar, from the Samalkha seat in Panipat, was arrested by ED on 1 May in a money laundering case related to fraud involving homebuyers’ money.
Sikandar is alleged to have collected Rs 360 crore from 1,497 people in exchange for the promise of homes in Sector 68, Gurugram. However, the firm failed to deliver the houses. An FIR was lodged against his firm in Gurugram under charges of fraud and forgery.
In July 2023, Chhokkar’s residence was also raided. Chhokkar’s anticipatory bail plea in this case was rejected by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
‘BJP misusing ED’s powers’
The Congress has alleged that the BJP government led by Narendra Modi is “misusing” the central agency to target opposition leaders ahead of the elections. Haryana Congress Chief Udai Bhan said the BJP knew that the people of Haryana had made up their mind to bring Congress back to power.
“It is in Amit Shah’s fitrat (nature). Wherever he goes in the country, ED and CBI follow. All that has transpired over the past four days is the result of Shah trying to suppress the Opposition’s voice ahead of elections,” Bhan alleged, speaking to The Print Saturday.
Asked whether he thought the ED was trying to target Hooda, the Haryana Congress president said, “Kisi ko bhi kar sakte hain, yahi Amit Shah ki fitrat hai (they can target any leader, this is in Amit Shah’s nature).”
Sanjay Sharma, state spokesperson of the BJP, however, denied any interference in the operations of the ED.
“Chor bhi kabhi kehta hai ki main chor hun (does a thief ever say he is a thief)? The Congress thinks that the BJP government controls the CBI and ED, the way it did when it was in power. BJP doesn’t believe in doing that. The BJP government has given complete freedom to central agencies to act against offenders,” Sharma told ThePrint.
“If the Congress leaders think they are being unduly targeted, they should let the truth come out and have the BJP government defamed for misuse of agencies. But they know the truth and this is the reason they are crying foul,” he added.
The cases against Hooda, Panwar & Dan Singh
According to a press note issued by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in January this year, the agency had carried out search operations at 20 premises in Faridabad, Sonipat, Yamunanagar, Karnal, Chandigarh and Mohali on 4 January.
“These operations were conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, as part of an investigation into large-scale illegal mining of sand, boulders, and gravels in Yamunanagar and nearby districts of Haryana. The case involves Dilbag Singh, a former MLA, Surender Panwar, an MLA, and their associates,” the statement read.
ED had initiated the investigation based on multiple FIRs filed by Haryana Police under various sections of the Indian Penal Code against several individuals and entities linked to illegal mining in the region. The National Green Tribunal had also issued various orders concerning illegal mining activities.
The investigation revealed that illegal excavation and sale of minerals (boulders, gravel and sand) were being carried out by screening plant owners and stone crushers in Yamunanagar through illegal transportation of mined minerals without generating the required e-Rawana bills from the Mining Department portal or by presenting fake physical copies of these bills upon inspection.
During the search operations in January, the ED had seized Rs 5.29 crore in cash, gold valued at approximately Rs 1.89 crore, two vehicles, various electronic devices, documents related to investments in India and abroad, and other incriminating materials.
Additionally, five illegal firearms, several cartridges and rounds of ammunition, and 138 bottles of liquor (exceeding permissible legal limits) were recovered from Dilbag’s premises. The former MLA and his aide Kulwinder Singh were arrested on 8 January and produced before a special court (PMLA) on 9 January, where a one-week ED custody was granted.
Dilbag, related to Indian National Lok Dal leader Abhay Chautala, was a two-time MLA from Yamunanagar in 2009 and 2014. About four years ago, his daughter had married Abhay Chautala’s son, Arjun Chautala.
In the case against Dan Singh, ED raided several locations across the National Capital Region and Haryana Thursday, including the residence of the Mahendragarh MLA in connection with a bank loan fraud case.
In a statement, the agency said that ED’s Gurugram office carried out search operations under the provisions of PMLA at 16 locations in Delhi, Gurugram (Haryana), Mahendergarh (Haryana) and Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) against a company called Allied Strips Limited, its promoters Gaurav Aggarwal and Mohender Aggarwal, Dan Singh, his son Akshat Singh and their entity, Suncity Projects Private Limited, and others.
The investigation was initiated on the basis of an FIR registered by CBI on allegations of fraud by siphoning and diverting funds, criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, cheating, etc., causing wrongful losses of more than Rs. 1392.86 crore to the consortium of banks led by Canara Bank, the ED said.
The alleged modus operandi included siphoning of the funds borrowed from banks to other companies in the form of unsecured loans & advances, writing off debts of various debtors, bogus transactions and taking cash in return, which had been invested for buying of land and other long term purposes.
ED said that search operations led to identification and seizure of cash amounting to Rs 1.42 crore, incriminating documents, 32 undisclosed flats and lands, various lockers, trusts, etc. from the premises of linked to Dan Singh and son Akshat.
Regarding the attachment of immovable properties in Gurugram, the ED’s statement Friday said that the agency has provisionally attached immovable properties worth Rs 300.11 crore belonging to M3M India, under the provisions of PMLA. The properties attached are in the form of land parcels, located in village Basharia, Harsaru tehsil, Gurugram.
ED said that it initiated investigation on the basis of an FIR by CBI under various sections of IPC, 1860, and Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against former CM Hooda, Trilok Chand Gupta, the then director of Department of Town and Country Planning, R.S. Infrastructure Private Limited, and 14 other colonizer companies.
It is alleged that colonizer companies colluded with government officials to issue notifications under Sections 4 and 6 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and then by creating fear of acquisition, they bought land at prices lower than the market rate.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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