ED arrests Virbhadra’s LIC agent in disproportionate assets case

CHANDIGARH/SHIMLA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) made its first arrest in the Rs 6-crore disproportionate assets case against Himachal Pradesh chief minister

CHANDIGARH/SHIMLA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) made its first arrest in the Rs 6-crore disproportionate assets case against Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh by nabbing his Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) agent Anand Chauhan in Chandigarh.

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The ED confirmed Chauhan’s arrest on Twitter on Saturday afternoon, though it had arrested him at its Sector 18 office in Chandigarh on Friday night.

ED officials said Chauhan had been evading summons to appear before the directorate in Delhi for questioning.

They had information that he was in Chandigarh and called him to the local office where he was caught.

Congress workers gathered at Holly Lodge, Singh’s private residence, on Saturday after rumours of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raid.

The CBI had filed a disproportionate assets case against Virbhadra Singh in September last year, accusing him of trying to legalise Rs 6.03 crore by revising his income tax returns from 2008 to 2012.

He invested more than Rs 5 crore in LIC policies through Chauhan.

It was found that Chauhan signed a deal with Singh on June 15, 2008, to manage his apple orchard at Damrali in Shimla district for three years. Chauhan bought LIC policies worth Rs 5 crore in the name of Singh’s family members soon after.

The first information report with a designated court in Delhi under the Prevention of Corruption Act, names Virbhadra, his wife Pratibha Singh, Chauhan and owner of Universal Apple Associates Limited Chunni Lal.

The allegations were refuted by Virbhadra, who was Union minister from 2009 to 2012 during the UPA rule.