ED files chargesheet in 200-cr ICE drug case against Kandola
JALANDHAR: The enforcement directorate (ED) on Tuesday filed a chargesheet in the `200 crore ICE drug case against NRI druglord Ranjeet Singh, alias Raja Kandola, his wife Rajwant and son Beli Singh.
The chargesheet was filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in a local court. ED assistant director Niranjan Singh was present in the court when the agency filed the chargesheet.
Kandola, a UK-based NRI, was arrested in June 2012. He escaped from police custody in September but was rearrested in New Delhi. He is presently lodged in the Tihar jail in Delhi.
In October 2012, the ED had also attached `20 crore worth properties belonging to Kandola, freezing his palatial bungalows and other assets under the Money Laundering Act.
Kandola’s 9.5 acre farmhouse at Samrala in Ludhiana, Banga, Hotel Roop Palace in Ropar and a palatial bungalow at the DLF City Phase-I in Gurgaon were reportedly attached.
While the total registered value of these properties was about `5.60 crore, the market value of these assets is esti- mated to be over ` 20 crore.
Kandola was allegedly running a racket manufacturing ice (a party drug) from meth- amphetamine and ephedrine and was getting heroin supplies from Pakistan as part of his illegal drug syndicate.
He was allegedly supplying drugs at various locations in Punjab, Delhi and other big cities of the country.
The druglord Kandola’s connections with some residents in Canada, Australia, and the United States are also under the scanner of enforcement and anti-narcotic agencies.
KANDOLA, A UK-BASED NRI, WAS NABBED IN JUNE 2012; CHARGESHEET ALSO FILED AGAINST HIS WIFE RAJWANT AND SON BELI SINGH