ED attaches land in PMLA probe against ex-J&K minister Lal Singh
The land belongs to R B Educational Trust (RBET) and a provisional order has been issued to attach it under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the agency said in a statement
The Enforcement Directorate said on Wednesday that it has attached a land worth ₹1.21 crore as part of a money laundering investigation against former Jammu and Kashmir minister Choudhary Lal Singh, his wife and an educational trust run by her.
The land belongs to R B Educational Trust (RBET) and a provisional order has been issued to attach it under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the agency said in a statement.
The ED said the land was the “proceeds of crime generated out of criminal activity related to the scheduled offence of PMLA”.
The former MP was arrested by the federal probe agency on November 7 in Jammu. He is also chairperson of the Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party. The money laundering case stems from a CBI FIR and a charge sheet was filed against Singh’s wife Kanta Andotra (chairperson of RBET) and a former ‘patwari’ of the J-K government Ravinder Singh.
“Choudhary Lal Singh, along with his wife Kanta Andotra, in connivance with revenue officers/officials i.e. the then patwari, the then gridawar, the then naib tehsildar and the then tehsildar used his stature and official position to get the land measuring 167 kanals and 15 marlas, having value at the time of possession of proceeds of crime as ₹1.21 crore (as per circle rate in 2011), transferred forcibly in the name of RBET,” the ED claimed.