New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said cash worth Rs 4.06 crore and other "incriminating" evidence was seized during raids against an illegal mine operator and his company in Punjab.
The searches were launched on Wednesday in 14 residential and business premises in Himachal Pradesh's Rupnagar (Ropar district), Hoshiarpur, Mandi Gobindgarh (Fatehgarh Sahi district) and Una.
"During the search operation, various incriminating evidence documents, mobile phones, laptops and cash worth Rs 4.06 crore were seized," the federal agency said in a statement.
The ED's money-laundering case stems from a Punjab Police FIR that was registered under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 195 and various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The agency alleged that Naseeb Chand, owner of Shri Ram Stone Crusher, was carrying out illegal mining on land earlier attached by the ED in the "notorious" Bhola drug case.
It claimed that Chand was also carrying out illegal mining on a large scale in some areas of Ropa district and during the investigation, various transactions related to transfer of funds between other people and entities involved in illegal mining have come to light.
The Bhola Drugs money-laundering case pertains to a multi-crore synthetic narcotics racket that was unearthed in Punjab in 2013-14.
The ED case was registered on the basis of an FIR lodged by the Punjab Police.
The case is commonly known as the Bhola drugs case, to identify the alleged "kingpin", wrestler-turned-policeman and "drug mafia" Jagdish Singh alias Bhola.
Bhola was arrested by the ED in January 2014 and the case is currently sub judice before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Punjab.
The searches were launched on Wednesday in 14 residential and business premises in Himachal Pradesh's Rupnagar (Ropar district), Hoshiarpur, Mandi Gobindgarh (Fatehgarh Sahi district) and Una.
"During the search operation, various incriminating evidence documents, mobile phones, laptops and cash worth Rs 4.06 crore were seized," the federal agency said in a statement.
The ED's money-laundering case stems from a Punjab Police FIR that was registered under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 195 and various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The agency alleged that Naseeb Chand, owner of Shri Ram Stone Crusher, was carrying out illegal mining on land earlier attached by the ED in the "notorious" Bhola drug case.
It claimed that Chand was also carrying out illegal mining on a large scale in some areas of Ropa district and during the investigation, various transactions related to transfer of funds between other people and entities involved in illegal mining have come to light.
The Bhola Drugs money-laundering case pertains to a multi-crore synthetic narcotics racket that was unearthed in Punjab in 2013-14.
The ED case was registered on the basis of an FIR lodged by the Punjab Police.
The case is commonly known as the Bhola drugs case, to identify the alleged "kingpin", wrestler-turned-policeman and "drug mafia" Jagdish Singh alias Bhola.
Bhola was arrested by the ED in January 2014 and the case is currently sub judice before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Punjab.
