The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will interrogate “middleman” Krishanu Sharda, an alleged aide of suspended Punjab Police deputy inspector general (DIG) Harcharan Singh Bhullar in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the bribery case against the senior police officer.
The ED has moved an application before the special court in Chandigarh seeking a production warrant for Sharda, who is currently lodged in judicial custody at Model Jail, Burail. The court has issued notice to Sharda through the jail superintendent and directed that he be produced before it on September 18.
Sharda was arrested along with Bhullar on October 16 last year, when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) caught him allegedly accepting ₹5 lakh as part of a bribe demanded from complainant Akash Batta.
According to the CBI case, Bhullar, who was then posted as DIG, Ropar range, had allegedly demanded illegal gratification through Sharda for securing favourable treatment in an FIR registered at the Sirhind police station and for ensuring that no coercive action was taken against Batta’s business.
The ED had registered a fresh money laundering case against Bhullar and Sharda and conducted searches at multiple locations in Punjab and Chandigarh in April this year as part of its investigation into the alleged proceeds of crime.
{{/usCountry}}The ED had registered a fresh money laundering case against Bhullar and Sharda and conducted searches at multiple locations in Punjab and Chandigarh in April this year as part of its investigation into the alleged proceeds of crime.
{{/usCountry}}The agency is now seeking to question Sharda as part of its probe into the alleged financial transactions and assets linked to the bribery case.