ED questions ex-Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda in money laundering case

New Delhi: Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has been questioned by the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday in connection with a money laundering case, the agency sources said.

ED filed a prosecution complaint earlier in February 2021, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) in the Panchkula Industrial plot allotment scam linking the former Haryana CM and 21 others.

According to ED, the case involves the allocation of 14 industrial plots worth Rs 30.34 crore allegedly to the acquaintances of the then Chief Minister of Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda in the year 2013.

According to the ED, the price fixed for the subject allotment was kept 4-5 times below the circle rate and 7-8 times market rate, it said.

As per the ED statement dated back in 2021, apart from Bhupinder Singh Hooda, 4 retired IAS officers namely, Dharam Pal Singh Nagal (the then Chief Administrator, HUDA), Surjit Singh (the then Administrator, HUDA), Subhash Chandra Kansal (the then Chief Controller of Finance, HUDA) Narinder Kumar Solanki (the then Zonal Administrator, Faridabad Zone, HUDA) and other HUDA official Bharat Bhushan Taneja (the then Superintendent, HUDA) have been involved in the commission of the offence of Money Laundering.

According to the ED, the price fixed for the subject allotment was kept 4-5 times below the circle rate and 7-8 times market rate, it said.

All 14 industrial plots stand attached as per the provisions of PMLA, 2002 by Enforcement Directorate in August 2019 and the attachment was confirmed by the PMLA Adjudicating Authority in February 2020. (ANI)