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{Foodgrain transportation scam} ED files chargesheet against ex-minister Ashu, 30 others
The probe agency has also provisionally attached assets worth ₹22 cr of the accused named in the chargesheet
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday submitted a detailed chargesheet against former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, his close associate Rajdeep Singh Nagra and 29 others, including officials of the Punjab food and civil supplies department, in the special PMLA court in Jalandhar in connection with an alleged ₹2,000-crore foodgrain transportation-linked money-laundering case.
ED has also provisionally attached properties worth ₹22.78 crore of the accused, named in the chargsheet.
The chargesheet was moved under sections 3 (Offence of money laundering) and 4 (punishment for money laundering) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The next hearing in the case is scheduled for October 3.
An ED spokesperson said that the attached properties belonging to persons involved in money laundering include immovable assets situated at Ludhiana, Mohali, Khanna and other parts of Punjab and movable properties in the form of FDRs, gold jewellery, bullions and bank accounts.
“The main immovable properties belong to former deputy director Rakesh Kumar Singla, then district food and civil supplies controller Harveen Kaur and Ashu’s close aide Rajdeep Singh Nagra,” an ED official said.
ED had initiated a parallel probe into the money trail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) registered multiple FIRs against Ashu and others in the tender scam.
On Friday, the ED spokesperson said that the central agency’s investigation has revealed that Ashu favoured selected contractors in the allotment of tenders and promised higher profits to them.
“In return, Ashu collected bribes from them through Rajdeep Singh Nagra, Rakesh Kumar Singla and other persons including a few government officers of the Punjab food and civil supplies department. The bribe money was further laundered to purchase movable and immovable properties using a network of shell entities,” the spokesperson added.
Ashu was arrested by the ED on August 1 and remained in custody for 10 days.
On August 24 last year, ED teams seized ₹6 crore and four bank lockers during raids at locations linked to Ashu and other accomplices besides seizing several incriminating documents, digital devices and ₹30 lakh of unaccounted cash from at least 10 locations. Similar raids were conducted on September 4 at Khanna and Issru village of Ludhiana district following which Rajdeep Nagra was apprehended.
On August 16, 2022, the VB registered a case against Ashu, his personal assistant Pankaj Kumar alias Menu Malhotra, then food and civil supplies deputy director RK Singla, district food and civil supplies controller Rakesh Bhaskar, besides three contractors— Telu Ram, Yashpal, Ajaypal besides others — for committing the ‘fraud’, causing a huge loss to the state exchequer by allegedly committing irregularities in accepting labour, cartage and transportation tenders for grain markets in Ludhiana district.
An FIR was registered under Sections 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 467 (forgery of valuable security, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 120B (party to a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence) of the IPC and Sections 7 (2), 8, 12 and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act at the VB police station in Ludhiana.
In the preliminary chargesheet filed by the VB, it was mentioned that the transportation, labour and cartage tenders allotted for the grain lifting process during Ashu’s tenure as the minister were stage-managed.
The vigilance bureau had claimed that at the time of submitting tenders for the year 2020-21, the list of vehicles submitted by contractors contained registration numbers of scooters, motorcycles and cars, which were not verified by officials of the district tender committee due to criminal connivance with each other.
