Wave group official, wife and help booked on ED complaint
Based on a complaint from a senior official of the enforcement directorate (ED), the Gautam Budh Nagar police on Wednesday lodged a case against three individuals for allegedly obstructing government work and destroying evidence during a raid at their home in Sector 44 in Noida on November 18.
According to the police, the three persons have been identified as Harmandeep Singh Kandhari, director of Country Colonisers Private Limited (CCPL) and several other Wave projects; his wife Scotchie De; and their house help Kamal Thapa.
The ED team has complained that they were kept waiting outside despite having a search warrant and the family also allegedly hid their electronic gadgets to keep the ED from gathering vital evidence.
According to the complainant, Manish Naudiyal, assistant director, ED, the team was authorised to conduct a search at Kandhari’s residence under section 17 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
The team reached Kandhari’s residence on the morning of November 18, and found his wife Scotchie De standing outside.
“When she enquired about the presence of my team on her premises, she was informed that there is a search warrant
for her premises. She rushed inside and pushed the door close with force before the team could enter. After almost five minutes, Kandhari and his house help came to the terrace on the second floor and the search team told him that they are from ED and asked him to open the door. When Kandhari came downstairs to open the door, we noticed suspicious movements on the second-floor terrace,” stated Naudiyal in the complaint.
The official added that the team showed the authorization to search the premises and asked all the members of the family and the house help to keep their electronic gadgets on a table. However, the family,
including the domestic help, allegedly made excuses. While they handed over other gadgets, Kandhari said he misplaced his cellphones.
“Kandhari informed us that he has misplaced his cellphones. During search proceedings, the behaviour of the house help, Kamal Thapa, appeared suspicious so the search team asked him why it took 4-5 minutes to open the door and if he had concealed anything while he was standing on the second floor terrace with Kandhari. He replied yes,” Naudiyal said.
Thapa told the search team that he had thrown a bag into the neighbour’s house on the instructions of Scotchie De.
The team further suspected that the phone may be in the bag and persuaded the neighbours to hand the bag over, which they did. However, the phone was not found in the bag, as per the complaint.
“On seeking assistance from ED technical team, the location of the mobile was found to be the home where the search action was going. However, despite repeated requests, Kandhari did not divulge the whereabouts of his mobile phone. It appears that Kandhari deliberately did not hand over the phone which must be containing the vital evidence,” the complaint stated.
DCP Harish Chandar said they have received a complaint and registered an FIR against the three persons under section 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 186 (voluntarily obstructs any public servant in the discharge of his public functions) and 204 (destruction of document or electronic record to prevent its production as evidence) of the Indian Penal Code.
Meanwhile, in a statement, Kandhari said, “We are cooperating with investigating agency as we have nothing to hide. We strongly deny the allegation in the complaints as we have provided every piece of information the authority asked for. We will continue to cooperate with the agency and provide all assistance as and when they need it.”