The Enforcement Directorate seized over a 100 bottles of liquor, Rs 5 crore cash, illegal foreign-made weapons and about 300 cartridges during searches at the residence of a Congress MLA and a former MLA in Haryana, officials said on Friday.
The probe agency was conducting raids at locations related to Congress MLA Surender Panwar and former Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLA Dilbagh Singh and their associates in a case of alleged illegal mining.
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The raid began yesterday at the residence of former Congress MLA Surendra Panwar, a mining businessman, and his associates. On Thursday, 15 to 20 probe agency officials in six vehicles reached the MLA’s residence, office and other places and the raids continued.
The ED team seized the phones of the family and staff present in the house
While Mr Singh is a former INLD legislator from Yamunanagar, Mr Panwar is a Congress MLA from Sonipat. As many as 20 locations in Yamunanagar, Sonipat, Mohali, Faridabad, Chandigarh and Karnal were raided on Thursday.
Apart from the liquor and cash, three gold biscuits weighing 4 to 5 kg were also seized.
A money laundering case was filed in 2013 by the probe agency after Haryana police registered multiple cases to probe alleged illegal mining of boulders, gravel and sand in Yamunanagar and surrounding districts after a ban on mining by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
As per the central agency, the MLAs are accused of running a fake ‘e-Ravaana’ scheme, an online portal to generate bills and slips for mining that was introduced by the Haryana government in 2020 to simplify collection of royalties and prevent tax evasion in mining areas.