Two days after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested former Yamunanagar MLA Dilbag Singh and his aide, officials on Wednesday said they were presented before a court that sent them to one week custody.
The legislator and his partner, Kulwinder Singh, were arrested by a team from Gurugram that presented them before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court on Tuesday.
The ED had initiated search operations under the provisions of the PMLA on Thursday at 20 premises located in Faridabad, Sonepat, Yamunanagar, Karnal, Chandigarh and Mohali.
In a statement, the agency said the searches were carried out in connection to a case of large-scale illegal mining in Yamunanagar and other districts by Dilbag and Congress MLA Surender Panwar and their associates.
The ED said it had initiated investigation based on multiple FIRs registered by Haryana Police related to illegal mining by various firms. “The National Green Tribunal has also passed various orders in this regard for illegal mining,” it said.
“The ED investigation revealed the act of illegal excavation and sale of minerals (boulder, gravel and sand) done by numerous screening plant owners and stone crushers of Yamunanagar. This was done through illegal transportation of the mined minerals without generating the requisite e-Rawana bills from the mining department portal, or by production of fake physical copies of the e-Rawana bills upon inspection, and other modus operandi to evade authorities,” the statement read.
{{/usCountry}}“The ED investigation revealed the act of illegal excavation and sale of minerals (boulder, gravel and sand) done by numerous screening plant owners and stone crushers of Yamunanagar. This was done through illegal transportation of the mined minerals without generating the requisite e-Rawana bills from the mining department portal, or by production of fake physical copies of the e-Rawana bills upon inspection, and other modus operandi to evade authorities,” the statement read.
{{/usCountry}}Following the search operations that ended on Monday with Dilbag’s arrest, the ED termed the total cash recovery of ₹5.29 crore and seizure of gold valued around ₹1.89 crore, two vehicles, various electronic devices, documents related to investment in India and abroad and various other documents of incriminating nature.
Additionally, the agency said five illegal firearms, numerous cartridges and rounds of ammunition along with 138 bottles of liquor (quantity beyond permissible legal limits) were also recovered from Dilbag’s premises and cases were lodged by the police.