ED attaches houses of former Akali minister Phillaur, ex-CPS Chander
CHANDIGARH : In a major crackdown on political personalities whose names have figured in the multi-crore Bhola drug racket, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday attached properties of former jails and tourism minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur, his son Damanvir Singh, and ex-chief parliamentary secretary Avinash Chander.
The value of the properties attached of the three is around Rs 10 crore. The names of the three will also be included in the charge-sheet. “It’s a legal requirement,” said a senior ED officer.
Phillaur and Chander had joined the Congress just before the state assembly polls after the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) denied them ticket.
The major chunk of the properties attached on Monday — orders were passed for Rs 120 crore — belong to Amritsarbased pharmaceutical manufacturing firm owner Jagjit Singh Chahal. Properties valued at Rs 20 crore of Delhi-based business man Sachin Sardana have also been attached. ED deputy director Niranjan Singh is the investigation officer in the case.
ED sources said Damanvir purchased these properties when Phillaur was the minister. Phillaur was asked to resign in 2014 after Damanvir’s name cropped up in the case.
The agency had quizzed Chander a number of times after his name appeared in a diary recovered from businessman Chunni Lal Gaba, the alleged kingpin of the racket. Gaba owns a cold storage unit in Goraya and a drug manufacturing facility in Baddi (Himachal Pradesh).
Chander’s house, valued at Rs 2.9 crore, in Chotti-Baradari, Jalandhar, and. Phillaur’s house in Urban Estate, Jalandhar, valued at Rs 2.3 crore have been attached.
In his disclosures to the ED, Bhola had said that Damanvir had introduced a Delhi-based smuggler Varinder Raja to the alleged kingpin Gaba.
Damanvir’s properties attached include a 16-marla plot in Kansal, SAS Nagar (Rs 1.2 crore), a flat at Basant Gaon in Basant Vihar, New Delhi, (more than Rs 3 crore) and commercial space valued at Rs 3.2 crore in Jalandhar. A fixed deposit of Rs 31 lakh has also been attached.
Chahal, who owns pharmaceutical companies in Baddi, was booked in May 2013 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) Act at the Banur police station in Patiala, for his alleged complicity in the racket. Seven luxury cars and assets of seven private firms he owns have been attached.
The ED ordered the attachment under Section 5 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) — failure to prove income for purchase of properties — after a one-year investigation.