Raids on houses of former Congress ministers

The Enforcement Directorate today conducted raids at 15 locations in connection with a forest scam linked to former Congress ministers Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and Sangat Singh Gilzian.

The duo held a portfolio of the Forest Minister and had been booked earlier by the Vigilance Bureau.

The ED officials said the raids were conducted at the houses of Dharamsot in Amloh, Fatehgarh Sahib, Gilzian in Tanda, Hoshiarpur, their ex-OSDs, some forest officials, contractors and private persons. The other locations included Ludhiana, Bathinda, Mohali, Chandigarh, Hisar and New Delhi.

While Gilzian, who recently came back from the US, was at his place, Dharamsot was reportedly away.

On the basis of the VB case, the ED had recorded an Enforcement Case Investigation Report in the matter for a suspected case of violation of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act six months ago.

The ED has already quizzed Dharamsot in June. As many as 10 officers of the Forest Department, including two Divisional Forest Officers, were summoned in July. Though the ED officials have already obtained various official records, they suspected that there could be more incriminating documents hidden at their places.

In the evening, the ED officials said they had laid hands on more documents and had also confiscated cellphones of the main accused in this case.

A Forest Department contractor’s diary had come as a major evidence as the kickbacks being given to the politicians and forest officials for the axing of khair trees