ED raids ex-minister Lal Singh’s educational trust in PMLA case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted raids on eight premises at different locations in Jammu, Kathua and Pathankot, in a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case against RB Educational Trust, owned by former MLA Kanta Andotra, wife of former minister, and former member of Parliament Choudhary Lal Singh, officials said.

ED sleuths conducted searches in a case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The CBI had filed a first information report (FIR) in the matter on September 12, 2020, and a chargesheet was filed on October 28, 2021.

The chargesheet had established offences committed by Kanta Andotra, then chairperson of RB Educational Trust, and Ravinder Singh, then patwari of Patwar Halqa Karandi Khurd and Muthi Hardo in 2011.

The revenue official had, in criminal connivance, issued three mutations of over 329 kanal land between January 4, 2011, and January 7, 2011, without mentioning details of violations of ceiling limit of 100 standard kanals prescribed under the Jammu and Kashmir Agrarian Reforms Act, 1976, thereby giving undue advantage to the trust.

While the ED raids were on, Singh’s supporters staged protests outside his house at Kathua, accusing the Bharaitya Janata Party of vendetta politics.

Earlier, a preliminary enquiry was conducted by CBI on the allegations of encroachment of government and forest land in Kathua by certain persons in violation of the J&K Agrarian Reforms Act in connivance with revenue and forest officials.

Searches were conducted on September 15, 2020, at 10 locations, including Jammu and Kathua.

In September 2020, an FIR had also been lodged against former Kathua deputy commissioner Ajay Singh Jamwal, former Marheen tehsildar Avatar Singh and others on allegations facilitating the trust in possessing land beyond the ceiling limit and submitting a false affidavit in its support, causing loss to the state exchequer.

On September 15, 2020, CBI had registered a case of criminal breach of trust and corruption against the trust and certain government servants.

On June 25, 2020, CBI had registered a preliminary enquiry to probe allegations of land grabbing and corruption by the educational trust.

Singh was elected as MLA on BJP mandate from Basohli in the 2014 elections and was inducted as a cabinet minister into the PDP-BJP coalition government.