E-Paper
ED raids locations in Hry, Raj in money laundering case against Lawrence Bishnoi gang member
The central probe agency’s action was concentrated on gangster and close ally of Bishnoi and Khalistani terror groups, Surender Singh Chiku, they said
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Tuesday raided 13 premises in Haryana and Rajasthan as part of a money laundering investigation against an alleged member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and some linked persons, official sources said.
The central probe agency’s action was concentrated on gangster and close ally of Bishnoi and Khalistani terror groups, Surender Singh Chiku, they said.
The ED seized electronic devices, “incriminating” documents, ledgers, property papers and ₹5 lakh cash during the raids that were still continuing, according to the sources.
About 60 bank accounts have been traced and the officials are scrutinising them, they said.
The ED action, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from FIRs filed against Chiku by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Haryana Police on charges of kidnapping, murder and extortion.
Probe found, the sources said, that Surender alias Chiku had “direct” relations with Laurence Bishnoi gang and Khalistani terror groups.
Chiku invested proceeds of crime generated in mining, liquor and toll businesses through his allies, they said.
The ED found that two people -- Satish Kumar and Vikash Kumar-- are directors of a company called MDR Enterprises Private Limited, a firm incorporated on October 12, 2020.
“It is involved in mining and quarrying. The two were also directors of Nimawat Granites Pvt Ltd from 21.08.2019 to 15.11.2021 of which is a private company incorporated on July 5, 2012,” an official said.
This company was involved in stone quarrying, sand and clay.
Chiku, the sources said, invested his “illegally” earned money through these companies, thereby laundering the proceeds of crime.
The agency detected that the gang entered into various agreements to sell without a registered deed and the properties were taken possession of and used by the gang members, according to the sources.
They said documents of about 13 such properties were found during the raids and they have been frozen under the PMLA.
Bishnoi, currently in jail, is one of the accused in the murder case of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala.
The ED case comprises comprehensive charges that Bishnoi and his gang members were allegedly sending funds generated in India through extortion and smuggling of drugs and arms to Canada and other countries that was being used by pro-Khalistan supporters.
A resident of Fazilka in Punjab, Bishnoi has been in jail since 2014 after he was arrested during an encounter with the Rajasthan Police. He was shifted to Delhi’s Tihar jail in 2021. He was later arrested by the Punjab Police on June 14, 2022, and shifted to the state in connection with the sensational murder of singer Sidhu Moose Wala on May 29.
Various police agencies keep taking him in custody in the cases being probed by them and hence Bishnoi keeps changing jails.
“Investigations have revealed that a terrorist, gangster and drug smugglers syndicate led by Bishnoi was involved in many targeted killings and extortion from businessmen and professionals, including doctors, and this had created a widespread scare and terror among the public at large,” the NIA had said.