Chandigarh, July 20 — The Enforcement Directorate’s zonal office in Jalandhar in Punjab on Monday said it has conducted search operations under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) of 2002 on 16 premises in connection with illegal sand mining on the ‘shamlat’ land in Pathankot district, close to the international border.
It said the land was transferred illegally through an impugned order passed by the then Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Kuldeep Singh.
During search operations, incriminating documents relating to the illegal mining of sand and river bed material were recovered.
Also, unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 1.75 crore was seized, and further freezing order on bank accounts with aggregate balance of Rs 91,34,322 was issued.
The investigation under the provisions of the PMLA was initiated based on an FIR registered by the Police Station, Vigilance Bureau, Amritsar, against Kuldeep Singh and eight others in connection with the illegal transfer of common village (shamlat) land situated in Bhattian Village to private individuals.
The land, on the banks of the Ravi river, is situated close to the International Border.
The appointment of Kuldeep Singh as ADC (Rural Development) in Pathankot was done on the recommendation of a state minister four days before his superannuation.
He passed the alleged order one day before his superannuation from government service.
Shree Sai Stone Crusher and Screener, Shiv Shankar Stone Crusher and their related entities along with key management personnel were covered during the search operations. The main finding against the individuals and the entities covered in the search is that they have illegally excavated, purchased, sold and transported sand and river-bed material without proper authorisation and paying due taxes and royalty.
The role of certain government officials suspected to be involved in facilitating such illegal mining activity and for not taking any preventive and corrective measures, thereby causing huge loss to the state exchequer is also under investigation.
It was further revealed that trucks, tippers and excavators have been operating in the area rampantly during nighttime, some even without number plates, indicating an organised illegal mining operation.
A continuing Public Interest Litigation related to the of mining in the border areas of Pathankot and Gurdaspur is also pending with the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had noted, “it is evident that mining in the border areas of Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts, especially across the Ravi, is detrimental to national security and any such activity results in facilitating the drug smugglers, terrorists and anti-national elements operating in the hinterland, nurtured and controlled by ISI.”
The High Court had also directed the state government to take necessary action to control it, but it “appears to continue unabated”, said the ED, which has also requisitioned the assistance of the Survey of India for scientific examination of the illegal mining activities on the alleged land.