Two businessmen were reportedly arrested by the Enforcement Department on Monday evening in a money laundering case related to alleged illegal mining.
According to reports, the arrested businessmen were identified as Gyanchand and Sanjay Dhiman. These businessmen are influential people in the Nadaun Assembly constituency and are alleged to have been involved in unfair mining practices. The ED had raided the premises of these businessmen a few months ago and the investigation into cash and gold hoards, etc., had been going on since then.
It is learned that they have been taken into custody by the ED team under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The arrest by the ED officials is said to be based on an FIR filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police in Saharanpur.
Speaking about the arrests, former MLA Rajinder Rana claimed that “people close to the Chief Minister are in jail and many more people could be affected by the music”.
During the investigation, twelve searches were conducted at the premises of several suspected mining mafias, including Gianchand and his associates in Himachal and Saharanpur, and statements of several persons were recorded. Investigations revealed that Gianchand and his associates were involved in illegal mining activities in the Beas and Yamuna rivers. It is noted that money earned from illegal mining was used to purchase properties and mining equipment as alleged.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, while interacting with the media, said that just because some persons from his Assembly constituency had been arrested, he should not be associated with it. He said the BJP leaders should refrain from making such statements.