ED raids premises linked to Kanda in Gurugram, Sirsa, Delhi

Gurugram, August 9

Two weeks after former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda was acquitted by a Delhi court in an 11-year-old case of abetment to suicide, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) swooped down on his palatial house in the Civil Lines area here today.

An influential politician, who helped the BJP form government in Haryana with the support of seven Independents, is a leader of the Haryana Lokhit Party, of which he is an MLA from the Sirsa constituency.

He came to limelight when Geetika Sharma, a former air hostess with his aviation company, died by suicide, alleging that she was taking the step due to “harassment” by Kanda and one of his associates. On July 25, this year, Kanda was acquitted in the case.

But, today’s raid has come as a surprise for him. He was at his Gurugram house when ED officials, accompanied by central paramilitary forces, entered his house in the morning. He was not allowed to come out of the house by ED sleuths until the filing of this report.

The ED authorities also summoned technical wing officials of the Income Tax Department to bring sophisticated electronic devices for searching gold, cash, etc., at Kanda’s house.

The raids were undertaken under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, an official of the ED said, maintaining that search operations were in progress and nothing could be said, as of now.

It was learnt that the raids were also conducted by the ED at the residential and business premises of Kanda in Delhi and Sirsa.

The ED is trying to find out how his business empire grew in just a span of 15 to 20 years.

Kanda was once close to former CM Om Prakash Chautala, when he (Chautala) was the CM of the state. Kanda’s business ventures grew during Chautala’s reign. Gopal and his brother Govind Kanda also used to be close aides of the Chautala brothers — Abhay Chautala and Ajay Chautala, sons of Om Prakash Chautala.

In 2009, when Kanda got elected as an Independent MLA from Sirsa, he helped Bhupinder Singh Hooda to form the government by rallying with some Independent legislators to extend support to the Congress.

He was made Home Minister of the state. He first resigned from the Cabinet after his arrest in the Geetika Sharma suicide case, and later, pulled back support to the Hooda government in 2014.

Sirsa MLA not allowed to leave house

The ED’s raid came as a surprise for former Haryana minister Gopal Kanda. He was at his Gurugram house when ED officials, accompanied by central paramilitary forces, entered his house in the morning. He was not allowed to come out of the house by ED sleuths until the filing of the report.