‘Political vendetta’, cries Virbhadra Singh as BJP demands his resignation as chief minister
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh's troubles don't seem like ending anytime soon. On Monday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached a sprawling 2.5-acre farmhouse in the Chhatarpur area of the capital — belonging to Singh and his family — under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED had filed a criminal case under the PMLA against the 82-year-old Congress leader and others in 2015. ED officials maintained that the farmhouse worth around Rs 27 crore was bought through shell companies.
Agency sources also said that the value of the farmhouse was Rs 6.61 crore in books but its market value was actually Rs 27 crore. The ED's action comes as a double blow to the Himachal Pradesh CM, after the CBI filed a charge sheet against him last week in a disproportionate assets case.
Interestingly, while the agency has attached the property, the caretakers of the farmhouse are unaware of the move. "No one came from any agency or from any government body. We are not aware about the ED attaching the farmhouse. Everything is going on as usual. We will allow anyone only once we get a call from CM sahab or chote sahab (Vikramaditya Singh)," Naveen Mishra, caretaker of the farmhouse told DNA.
The farmhouse is situated at Dera Mandi road in Chattarpur, a few metres away from high-end corporate offices in Gurugram. It is in the name of a company owned by the son and daughter of the Congress CM — Maple Destinations and Dreambuild Pvt Ltd. Virbhadra's son Vikramaditya Singh and daughter Aprajita Kumari own 95 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively, of Maple Destinations.
Interestingly, the caretaker pointed out that in last six months neither of them came to the farmhouse. "The owners of the farmhouse rarely come here," said Mishra. But gardener Aslam stated that two years ago, men claiming to be from the CBI searched the entire premises.
ED sources said that during their probe, the agency had found that Virbhadra Singh had allegedly invested ill-gotten money in purchase of a farmhouse.
"Investigation into the source of the farmhouse revealed that the funds for the same had been provided through Vakamulla Chandrashekar, Promoter and Director of Tarini Group of Companies, engaged in hydro-power projects," said a senior ED officer.
In lieu of this, ED sources said that Chandrashekar's company had been awarded the Saikothi plant in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh. The cheque amount for buying the farmhouse was given from his personal bank accounts with Karur Vyasa, Kotak Mahindra & ICICI Bank on Delhi.
Sources added that he (Chandrashekar) had been given Rs 5.9 crore to Singh and family members, out of which Rs 90 lakh was transferred from the account of Singh to his son Vikramaditya Singh which was ultimately utilised for buying the farmhouse.
ED sources confirmed that the funds provided by Chandrashekar were routed through certain paper entities M/s 3G Techno (Rs 17,50,000), Prince Enterprises (Rs 15,00,000), Jai Bharat Foods (Rs 22,50,000), Jai Durga Impex (Rs 30 lakhs), Gursharan Singh (Rs 15,00,000 and Rs 20,00,000).
"It was also revealed that even a fake bank account was opened in the name of Gursharan Singh at HDFC Bank and was used to provide entry to Chandrashekar. Another firm, Jai Bharat Foods, was utilised for showing fake agricultural income against fake bills. The entries were facilitated by Vineet Mishra, then working as a manager at HDFC Bank at its Mansarover Garden branch, Delhi," a senior ED official stated.
The agency is also probing how Virbhadra Singh had invested "unaccounted for income" in LIC policies in his name and in the name of his wife and other family members through a private person by showing the same as agricultural income.
"This was done by the creation of an MoU purportedly dated June, 15, 2008 for maintenance of an apple orchard, with the said private person for a period of three years. This private person had allegedly deposited about Rs 5 crore cash in his own bank account and debited the same through cheques for purchasing various LIC policies in their names," an ED official said.
"Later, the former Union Minister of Steel allegedly attempted to legitimise the same as agricultural income by filing revised Income Tax Returns in 2012," he added.
Himachal CM in dock
The ED has seized a farmhouse belonging to HP CM Virbhadra Singh on Monday. The agency is investigating Singh and his family, and allege shell companies had been used to buy the farmhouse located in Chhatarpur, Delhi. The ED had filed a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against the 82-year-old Congress leader in 2015 based on an FIR registered by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CBI also filed a charge-sheet against Singh last week in a disproportionate assets case.
A South Delhi-based farmhouse belonging to Himachal Pradesh CM Virbhadra Singh was attached by ED officials on Monday under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
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