Money laundering: Enforcement Directorate summons Punjab forest officials

Rajmeet Singh

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Chandigarh, July 19

Panic has gripped forest officials as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has started summoning officials in a money laundering case in connection with the alleged multi-crore forest scam probed by the Vigilance Bureau.

Former Forest Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot has already been quizzed at the Jalandhar office of the ED. Around 10 officials, including two Divisional Forest Officers (DFO), have been summoned by the ED.

A senior government functionary said the department had not been intimated about the summons as the ED had sought the record of the VB investigations through the court. Former Punjab principal conservator Praveen Kumar, Conservator of Forest Vishal Chauhan, DFO Guramanpreet Singh and other senior officials of the department have been summoned.

The ED had urged the court to issue directions to the Vigilance to provide certified copies of the challan/chargesheet and other documents so as to initiate a probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The Vigilance had handed over the records, including a copy of the two FIRs related to the forest scam, chargesheets, evidence, information related to the accounts of the accused and other relevant records, to the ED in the court.