ED searches properties linked to SAD man, his sugar mill partners
Enforcement Directorate
(ED) in Jalandhar searched the properties linked to former Markfed chairman and SAD functionary Jarnail Singh Wahid, along with those of his Phagwara sugar mill partners Sukhbir Singh Sandhar and Jaswinder Singh Bains.
All of them, along with others, were booked by the vigilance bureau in connection with alleged misappropriation of govt land of the mill in Phagwara, causing financial loss to the state govt.
ED is conducting a money-laundering investigation against M/s Wahid Sandhar Sugars Ltd, and related entities and persons.
Wahid is the managing director of Wahid-Sandhar Sugar Mills, Phagwara. His wife and son are directors, and his son is also a director in Sugar Mill Plaza Private Limited, Phagwara.
As the mill ran into rough weather and payments to the cane-growers were due, its operations were being handled by Rana Sugars.
The ED reached the residences and other premises of Wahid and Sandhar in Phagwara, and Bains in the village of Rawalpindi in the morning, with the search continuing till evening. ED officials also searched the sugar mill and examined old records, including a gym owned by Wahid's family. They also visited the SDM office to check the revenue record.
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According to ED sources, searches were conducted at eight locations in Punjab and Chandigarh in connection with the money laundering investigation against Wahid-Sandhar Sugars, and related entities and persons.
During the VB investigation, it was found that Wahid-Sandhar Sugars misused the Muafi land, which was initially allotted by Maharaja Jagat Jit Singh of the erstwhile Kapurthala princely state in 1933. The said Muafi land was intended to be used for running the sugar mill as per the conditions of allotment, and the mortgage or further sale of the said land was not allowed. Their company acquired the rights to run the sugar mill on the Muafi land in 2000, and the company breached the conditions by mortgaging and selling the said Muafi land.
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