ED raids premises of Haryana Congress MLA Rao Dan Singh
Ravinder Saini
Rohtak, July 18
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today searched the premises of Congress’ four-time MLA Rao Dan Singh, a close aide of former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda, at his farmhouse located on the Kanina Road and residential premises, including his brother’s house, at Shankar Colony in Mahendragarh city in the wee hours on Thursday.
Prominent Ahir leader
- A prominent Ahir leader of the Congress, Rao Dan Singh, 68, is a four-time MLA from Mahendragarh and has declared assets worth over Rs 18 crore
- Dan Singh came into the limelight when he defeated the BJP’s top leader Ram Bilas Sharma by nearly 39,000 votes in 2000. Sharma had won the seat four times since 1982
- Dan Singh went on to retain the seat in 2005 and 2009. In 2014, he lost to Sharma as the BJP came to power. However, in 2019, Dan Singh defeated Sharma
Money laundering probe
The Enforcement Directorate also conducted raids at Allied Strips Limited, a metal fabricating company, in Bahadurgarh (Jhajjar) besides several other locations in Gurugram, Delhi and Jharkhand, reportedly in connection with a money laundering probe linked to an alleged bank loan fraud case involving Rs 1,392 crore.
The Central agency also conducted raids at Allied Strips Limited (ASL), a metal fabricating company, in Bahadurgarh (Jhajjar) besides several other locations in Gurugram, Delhi and Jharkhand, reportedly in connection with a money laundering probe linked to an alleged bank loan fraud case involving Rs 1,392 crore. The raids were under way till the filing of the news report.
Incidentally, the action came two days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah came to Mahendragarh to address Backward Class (BC) Sammelan and took a dig at the Congress’s latest campaign ‘Haryana Maange Hisaab’. Rao Dan Singh as a Congress nominee had unsuccessfully contested recently held Lok Sabha elections from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat.
As per sources, the ED teams along with security personnel reached both premises of Rao Dan Singh in Mahendragarh in seven vehicles at around 4 am. The security personnel did not allow anyone to enter and exit the premises. They even objected to certain mediapersons when they were clicking photographs and shooting videos outside the raided premises.
“The teams comprising around 15 officials reached the Allied Strips Limited (ASL) in Bahadurgarh around 7 am when the employees in a considerable number were working there. The company premises was immediately surrounded by personnel of paramilitary forces and no employee was allowed to come in/out from it,” the sources said. The company is alleged to be involved in a bank loan fraud case and was booked by the CBI in 2022. The name of Rao Dan Singh’s son Rao Akshat also cropped up in the case as his company allegedly took loan money from the company.
Meanwhile, Bhiwani-Mahendragarh MP Dharambir Singh on being asked about the ED raids on the sidelines of a function in Bahadurgarh (Jhajjar), said, “It’s a routine work of the ED. I cannot comment over it but we should not see it from a political point of view. Dan Singh is my political opponent but he is my friend as well. He will better know what the issue is?”
