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Punjab: Former minister Dharamsot sent to ED custody till Jan 19
The ED, which is probing an alleged forest scam that took place during the Congress regime from 2017-2022, had grilled Sadhu Singh Dharamsot for nearly six hours on Monday before arresting him after finding his responses unsatisfactory.
The court of additional sessions judge has sent Congress leader and former forest minister, Punjab, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till Friday.
The ED, which is probing an alleged forest scam that took place during the Congress regime from 2017-2022, had grilled Dharamsot for nearly six hours on Monday before arresting him after finding his responses unsatisfactory.
Seeking his remand, the ED told the court that they need to find the source of his excess income or disproportionate assets to the tune of ₹6.5 crore.
Dharamsot, who held the forest portfolio in Capt Amarinder Singh’s cabinet, was the first former minister to be arrested after the Aam Aadmi Party government came to power. He was arrested on June 7, 2022, on allegations that he took kickbacks to issue permits to cut trees, transfer officials, make purchases and issue no-objection certificates.
The ED had also raided the premises of Dharamsot, another forest minister of the state Sangat Singh Gilzian, some forest department officials and others on November 30 last year.
The Congress leader remained in jail till September 6, 2022, before securing a bail. Over a dozen officials and bureaucrats have also been booked in the case.
On February 7, 2023, the VB had again arrested him for amassing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. He was out on bail in both cases.
