ED books ex-Rano sarpanch, 7 others for money laundering
JALANDHAR : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a case of money laundering against Gurdeep Singh Rano, former sarpanch of Rano village in Ludhiana district, and seven other persons in the high-profile international drug cartel case.
The other accused are Ravez Singh Dhillon, Akashdeep Singh, Babaljit Singh, Iqbal and Ramneek Singh, all from the Khanna area of Ludhiana district, and NRIs Simran Sidhu (based in Italy) and Tanvir Singh Bedi (based in Australia).
The agency has filed an enforcement case information report (ECIR) under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on the basis of probe details shared by the Punjab Police’s special task force (STF) headed by additional director general of polic Harpreet Singh Sidhu and other documents.
The ED started its probe looking into the money trail in the case with links in Australia and Pakistan. “We will investigate as where the drug returns were invested and will start the attachment process of properties bought from the money. The role of Punjab Police officials and others whose name cropped during the STF probe is also under lens. We will proceed according to evidence,” said a senior ED official.
The ED in its probe found the accused used to smuggle heroin and other narcotic substances from Pakistan and other countries through shipping containers. Then they used to stock the contraband in the various parts of the country and sell it in Punjab and elsewhere. The probe also established that Rano and other accused had close ties with police officials and many gangsters.
The STF had arrested Rano in November last year and seized eight cars, including a Jaguar, a Q7 Audi, a Toyota Fortuner and a BMW, from his palatial house. It had also recovered 5.39 kg heroin and illegal arms from him in a special operation. Rano, who owned only a scooter till 2015, allegedly amassed property of Rs 50 crore in a span of four years. Also, he used to move around with police security.
In March this year, the Punjab government suspended five senior police officers, including inspector general (IG) Paramraj Singh Umranangal who is already facing suspension in the 2015 police firing cases; assistant commandant (4th battalion) Pathankot, Varinderjit Singh Thind; Faridkot SP (detective) Sewa Singh Malli; and DSPs Parminder Singh Bath and Karansher Singh for their alleged complicity with Rano.
AGENCY FILES ECIR ON BASIS OF PROBE DETAILS SHARED BY THE PUNJAB POLICE’S SPECIAL TASK FORCE AND OTHER DOCUMENTS