Arrested Punjab Congress leader and former minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu "laundered" the proceeds of crime generated through an alleged tender scam using several shell companies and purchased properties in his and his family members' name, the ED claimed on Friday.
The 53-year-old politician was produced by the central agency before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Jalandhar that sent him to five days' Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody.
He was arrested on Thursday at the ED's Jalandhar office following a day-long questioning.
The probe found, the agency said in a statement, that "Bharat Bhushan Ashu had laundered the proceeds of crime through several shell entities and purchased properties in his name and the name of his family members".
Shell entities denote companies opened using KYC documents of innocent or gullible people to launder money at the behest of tax evaders and money launderers.
Ashu is a former minister of consumer affairs, food and civil supplies and a working president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. He represented Ludhiana (West) in the assembly.
The politician was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in this case in August 2022.
A year later in August 2023, the ED raided the premises of Ashu, Raman Balasubramanium, a former chairman of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust, and some others.
The money-laundering investigation stems from a Punjab Vigilance Bureau FIR in connection with a tender "scam" in the department.
Congress' Punjab unit chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring condemned the arrest of his party colleague and said, "This vendetta politics cannot stop us from fighting for truth and justice." Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira also condemned the arrest.
"Although investigative agencies can probe and arrest anyone, the case of the ED arresting Bharat Bhushan Ashu, an ex-minister @INCPunjab, is a double jeopardy according to law!" he said in a post on X.
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