The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has transferred its key investigator probing cases related to the high-profile Rs6,000 crore drugs money laundering crimes in Punjab in which State Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia was among others questioned by the agency.
The decision to transfer ED’s Assistant Director Niranjan Singh based in Jalandhar to Kolkata was slammed by Congress which alleged political expediency behind the move and demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention for a probe by CBI or a Supreme Court judge into the drug scam. Singh’s transfer orders were issued Friday evening by the ED headquarters here, agency sources said.
Sources said Singh was transferred to handle probes into important cases like the Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund scams and related money laundering offences in Kolkata. Singh was also part of the team which recently questioned Majithia in the drug money laundering case in Jalandhar.
The officer was also handling a number of other money laundering and foreign exchange violation cases in Punjab. “There is no connection with his transfer and the drugs case he was probing. It was felt his services were more required in Kolkata and the regional in-charge there had requested ED to send some good officers,” agency sources said.
They said Singh is being sent on “an important” assignment in Kolkata and because of his good work he is being given a “challenging work”.
last year, Singh was awarded the best ED investigator award at a ceremony and is known as one the finest officers for investigation of money laundering and foreign exchange violation cases.
Attacking Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP, Punjab Congress chief Pratap Singh Bajwa wrote to Modi slamming the “conspiracy to hush up this narco-terrorism racket by the ruling powers” and sought transfer of the case outside the State as well as immediate revocation of the order shunting out investigating officer (IO) Niranjan Singh.
Bajwa linked the transfer decision to the questioning of Majithia in the multi-crore drugs scam probe, noting that he is the brother-in-law of the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and had also “spearheaded the electoral campaign of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley from Amritsar lok Sabha constituency”.
“It is abundantly clear that the reasons for transferring him from Punjab are purely on account of political expediency and convenience.... It is most unfortunate that the rule of law is being sacrificed at the altar of political expediency especially in view of the fact that your party requires the support of the SAD-Badal for the forthcoming Delhi elections,” Bajwa said.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Manish Tewari said the transfer was an “extremely disturbing and regrettable development”. Majithia has maintained that all allegations related to the drug racket against him are “baseless and without evidence”.