The Enforcement Directorate (ED), after a search operation, has seized assets and deposits of close to ₹6 crore linked to former Punjab Cabinet Minister and Congress leader Bharat Bhushan Ashu in connection to a money laundering case surrounding an alleged tender scam in Punjab.
According to an official statement the ED carried out search operations at 25 locations in Punjab on August 24, in connection with the Punjab tender scam case including the residential premises of Mr. Ashu, the former Minister of Food and Civil Supplies in Punjab and Raman Balasubramanium, the former Chairman of Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) and their accomplices.
ED had initiated a money laundering investigation on the basis of FIRs registered by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860 and of Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, 1988 surrounding the Transportation and Labour Cartage Policy 2021 of the Punjab government, said the statement.
