By Nita Yadav
Published on:
Former minister and Congress leader Bharat Bhushan Ashu
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday arrested former Punjab minister and Congress leader Bharat Bhushan Ashu in a money laundering case related to the tender scam. Ashu (53) was detained after questioning at the regional office of the federal agency.
Officials said former minister Ashu was not answering questions properly, due to which he was arrested under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
According to officials, the Congress leader may be produced before a special court on Friday, where the ED will seek remand. After the arrest, the agency took Ashu to a government hospital for a routine medical check-up late in the evening. However, the Congress leader did not speak to reporters outside the ED office.
Ashu is the former Food and Civil Supplies Minister of Punjab and the Working President of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. He has represented Ludhiana (West) in the Punjab Assembly.
In this case, the Congress leader was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in August 2022. A year later, in August 2023, the ED raided the homes of Ashu, Raman Balasubramaniam, former chairman of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust, and a few others.
The money laundering probe is linked to the Punjab Vigilance Bureau’s FIR regarding the state government’s Transport and Labor Cartage Policy 2021 and complaints related to the Ludhiana Improvement Trust scam regarding allotment of plots to fake persons. According to the ED, the tenders were allotted to contractors who approached the minister (ASHU) through Rakesh Kumar Singa, Chairman, Central Vigilance Commission, Food and Civil Supplies.
I am Nita Yadav, specializing in writing about politics and breaking national news. My focus is on delivering insightful and timely perspectives on these crucial topics, aiming to inform and engage my readers effectively.
