The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached properties of Haryana's notorious criminal Surendra Singh alias Chiku, with alleged links to jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, amounting to Rs 17.82 crore involving movable and immovable properties.
The attached properties include cash, bank balances and land belonging to family members of Chiku, spread over Narnaul (Haryana) and Jaipur (Rajasthan).
Chiku, a notorious gangster of Haryana with links to Lawrence Bishnoi gang was arrested last month over charges of money laundering and is currently lodged in Tihar jail.
The investigative agency in its probe found that Chiku was managing the proceeds of the crime of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi through his associates.
He was acquiring properties in the name of his family members and relatives, from the ill-gotten money. He was also found to be investing proceeds of crime into various businesses like mining, liquor and toll plazas.
Surendra Singh alias Chiku along with his brother-in-law Vikash Kumar have also been charged with kidnapping, murder and extortion by the Haryana Police.
The ED investigation found evidence of his involvement in mining businesses through fake companies. He and his brother-in-law are also found to have extorted money from the area's businessmen.
"Proceeds of crime extorted from mining businesses were acquired through legal banking channels, channelised into the normal economy and used to purchase immovable properties and for personal consumption," the ED said in a statement.
While the ED carried out multiple raids at over a dozen locations in Haryana and Rajasthan in tracing the proceeds of crime, it recovered various damning documents including property papers, cash ledgers and more.
(With inputs from IANS)
