ED raids 13 sites in Punjab illegal mining case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Wednesday carried out raids at 13 locations across Punjab, in connection with its ongoing probe into alleged money laundering linked to an illegal-mining case.

The agency claims to have seized Rs 3.5 crore during the raids.

The raids, by ED's Jalandhar wing, were carried out in the nearby areas of Rupnagar district. According to people in the know, illegal mining was being done on land that the federal agency had attached in connection with the Bhola drug case.


The Bhola drug case is at a crucial stage of trial before a special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The people said those involved in the case included one Nasib Chand, allegedly to be a key figure in the mining mafia.

In the Bhola drug case, involving the now-dismissed police official Jagdish Singh Bhola, the Punjab police had busted a synthetic drug racket estimated to be worth over Rs 10,000 crore over a decade ago.

The ED, which investigated money laundering linked to the case, had attached properties worth more than Rs 200 crore belonging to various people, including politicians, NRIs and Bhola himself.