THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday raided the premises of Rajasthan Congress leader and former minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and Punjab AAP MLA Kulwant Singh as part of a Rs 48,000-crore PACL Ponzi “fraud”-linked money laundering probe, official sources said. About 15 premises including Khachariyawas’ house in Jaipur and Singh’s premises in Punjab’s Mohali apart from some others are being searched by the federal probe agency. A security team of the CRPF has also been deployed with the ED teams at both the locations linked to the politicians. The 55-year-old Congress leader served as minister for transport, food and civil supplies in the cabinet of former chief minister Ashok Gehlot. He has represented the Civil Lines (Jaipur) seat in the Rajasthan Assembly. Singh, 63, is the promoter of a real estate firm named Janta Land Promoters Limited (JLPL).

 

He is reported to be Punjab’s richest MLA with assets reportedly worth Rs 1,000 crore. Addressing reporters outside his ancestral house here, Khachariyawas, nephew of former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, said the ED action was “politically motivated” because he has been speaking against the government. He asserted he had done nothing wrong and that he was “not afraid” of the ED. There was no response till evening hours from Singh or his family on the ED action. The money laundering investigation of 2015 stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR against PACL India Limited, PGF Limited, the late PACL promoter Nirmal Singh Bhangoo and others for operating “fraudulent” investment schemes to deceive investors.

 

Through these schemes, PACL and its directors “defrauded” the investors of about Rs 48,000 crore, according to the ED. Alleged “proceeds of crime” are suspected to have been diverted to various entities including those linked to Khachariyawas, the sources claimed. As the news about the ED raids broke, supporters of Khachariyawas gathered outside his residence and raised slogans. “They have brought a notice to search the premises. They have not given notice linking it to any company. Premises can be searched anywhere in the country, it is their right. I am neither afraid nor nervous,” Khachariyawas told reporters.