The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday made its first arrest in the disproportionate assets case involving Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.
The ED held Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) agent Anand Chauhan, who had invested Rs. 5 crore in the LIC in the name of Mr. Singh’s family. The agency also registered a case of money laundering against Mr. Singh and Mr. Chauhan, who reportedly used to handle the income from the apple orchard the Chief Minister owns.
Mr. Chauhan, who was in Chandigarh for medical check-up and was trying to get himself admitted in a hospital, was later detained by the police there.
The ED had earlier attached properties in Delhi worth Rs. 8 crore that are owned by the Chief Minister’s son Vikramaditya and daughter Aprajita. The agency had also summoned apple trader Chuni Lal Chauhan, who purchased the “crop” grown in the Chief Minister’s farm. Chuni Lal’s services were allegedly used to move around the money, showing it as income from the orchard.
Last September, the CBI had raided Mr. Singh’s house in Shimla and registered a case of disproportionate assets against him. He was questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation a few weeks ago.
Mr. Singh is accused of amassing more than Rs. 6 crore when he was the Union Steel Minister in the UPA government between 2009 and 2011. It is alleged that he invested the same amount in buying the LIC policies after paying a one-time premium.
He later filed the revised income tax returns and allegedly claimed that this money came from his apple fields.
The State unit of the BJP made it an issue in the last election, but failed to unseat Mr. Singh.
