In the money laundering case linked to the synthetic-drug racket, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has now filed charge sheet against 11 people, including five members of the family of drug lord Jagdish Bhola.
Filed at the district sessions court on Saturday here, the charge sheet says that the ill-gotten money from the multi-crore-rupee drug network was invested in the names of Bhola's father, Balshinder Singh; mother, Baltej Kaur; wife, Gurpreet Kaur; father-in-law, Dalip Singh; and mother-in-law, Amarjit Kaur. In two years, thus, the ED has filed charge sheets against only 24 people, against its claim of 50.
Besides Bhola's relatives, the other people named in the latest charge sheet (Gurmeet Kaur, Jagminder Kaur, Joginder Kaur, Avtar Singh Tari, Sandeep Kaur, and Baljit Singh) are relatives of another accused in the Bhola drug racket. District and session judge HS Madaan has directed the ED to either speed up the filing of charge sheets or submit a final report. The next hearing is on August 1, when the ED will bring Bhola from Mumbai.
After the hearing Bhola's lawyer, Satish Karakara, claimed that after Bhola, the ED now wanted to implicate his family. "The directorate says Bhola bought huge property in the name of members of his family from the drug income, while they have only 26-acre ancestral land. It is dragging the case unnecessarily by claiming involvement of 55 people, while it has been able to file charge sheet against only 24 in two years," he added.
{{/usCountry}}After the hearing Bhola's lawyer, Satish Karakara, claimed that after Bhola, the ED now wanted to implicate his family. "The directorate says Bhola bought huge property in the name of members of his family from the drug income, while they have only 26-acre ancestral land. It is dragging the case unnecessarily by claiming involvement of 55 people, while it has been able to file charge sheet against only 24 in two years," he added.
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