Haryana: ED arrests Congress MLA Panwar in illegal mining-linked money laundering case

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Haryana Congress MLA Surender Panwar in an "illegal" mining-linked money-laundering case, official sources said on Saturday.

The 55-year-old legislator was taken into custody in the early hours in Gurugram. He will be produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Ambala where the central agency will seek a custodial remand, the sources said.

The agency had raided the premises of the MLA in January on the charges of "large-scale illegal mining" in the Yamunanagar area of the state.

It had then arrested former Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) legislator from Yamunanagar, Dilbag Singh, and one of his associates, Kulwinder Singh, in the case.

Assembly elections for Haryana's 90 seats are slated to be held later this year.

The money-laundering case stems from several FIRs registered by the Haryana Police for probing alleged illegal mining of boulders, gravel and sand that took place in the past in Yamunanagar and nearby districts in spite of a ban imposed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

The ED is also probing an alleged fraud in the "e-Ravana" scheme, an online portal that was introduced by the Haryana government in 2020 to simplify collection of royalties and taxes and prevent tax evasion in mining areas.

It is estimated, as per the ED, that the alleged illegal mining generated slush funds of about Rs 400-500 crore over the last few years. PTI