ED arrests global drug racket kingpin from Ludhiana

Jalandhar, April 4 (IANS) The kingpin of an international drug syndicate being run from Ludhiana was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Jalandhar Zonal Office, in connection with money laundering, an official said on Friday.

Akshay Kumar Chhabra, picked up on Wednesday, used a web of shell companies to import drugs from Afghanistan and supply them to his clients.

The ED initiated the investigation based on a case registered by the Narcotics Control Bureau, Chandigarh Zonal Unit. Chhabra was booked under various provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

During the investigation, it was found that Chhabra generated huge proceeds of crime through illegal drugs trade, which was infused in immovable properties, liquor business and transferred out of India through different hawala channels, said an ED official.

In a separate case related to Himachal Pradesh, the ED, Shimla, restituted properties valued at Rs 289 crore to a consortium led by Bank of India in the case of forgery by a company, Indian Technomac Co Ltd (ITCOL).

The two properties seized by the ED include parcels of land in Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh, and in Hauz Khas, New Delhi, valued at Rs 190.95 crore.

Movable properties like plant and machinery located in Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh, valued at Rs 97.96 crore were also seized, the ED said.

The ED initiated the investigation based on an FIR registered by CID, Himachal Pradesh Police, against ITCOL and its promoters, alleging that directors of the company, in connivance with other official staff of various companies and Chartered Accountants, siphoned off loans availed from a consortium of banks.

The ED investigation revealed that ITCOL had obtained loans from the consortium led by Bank of India from the years 2009 to 2013 by submitting forged detailed project reports to the banks and by showing fake sales to dummy companies.

The loans obtained by ITCOL were not utilised for the purposes they were sanctioned for, said the ED.

--IANS

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