Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Chandigarh Zonal Office has provisionally attached assets valued at Rs. 2.98 Crore approx. which includes movable assets to the tune of Rs. 13 Lakh and immovable assets to the tune of Rs. 2.85 Crore approx. under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 belonging to Lakhwinder Singh.
He and his firm M/s Lakhwinder Singh was found to be involved in the offence of cheating and causing fraudulent and wrongful loss to the State Government Exchequer thereby, fraudulently acquiring wrongful gain to himself through illegal mining in District Una of Himachal Pradesh. ED initiated investigation on the basis of FIR registered by the Himachal Pradesh Police, PS Una Sadar, Una under various sections of IPC, 1860 in the matter of unauthorized mining conducted in District Una of Himachal Pradesh.
ED investigation revealed that Lakhwinder Singh was running 3 crusher units in the name and style of M/s Lakhwinder Singh in Una District. M/s Lakhwinder Singh deliberately & dishonestly concealed by not reporting the actual production in its statutory returns required to be filed under the Himachal Pradesh Minor Minerals (Concession) and Minerals (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2015.
The State Government was cheated and misappropriated by illegal mining and unreported sale of material without payment of statutory dues. ED conducted a comprehensive examination of all the areas on which mining was conducted by Lakhwinder Singh in Una, (HP) to determine the extent of illegal mining. The expert report by the team highlighted instances of excessive and illegal sand mining, much more than the recorded volume documented in the records of the state government. Earlier, ED conducted searches at 13 locations across Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh resulting in recovery of incriminating material. Further investigation is under progress.