Surender Panwar part of illegal mining syndicate, claims ED in court

Nitish Sharma

Ambala, July 20

Sonepat MLA Surender Panwar was on Saturday remanded in Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody for nine days in connection with his alleged involvement in illegal mining activities.

Panwar was produced before the court of Special Judge, Ambala (designated special court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act), where the ED sought his 14-day custody.

No loan agreement

In his statement to the ED, Panwar said he had given a loan without interest to the companies and had received it back, but there was no loan agreement nor was any interest charged against the loans.

The ED submitted that the police had registered eight FIRs from October 2022 to February 2023 in Yamunanagar against Om Guru Screening Plant and others for cheating, fraud, tax crimes and forgery. The ED, in September, had registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against various entities and individuals under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Information was shared with the Yamunanagar SP regarding rampant illegal mining and an FIR was registered in January against former MLA Dilbag Singh, Rajinder Singh and several others associated with Development Strategies India Private Limited, Delhi Royalty Company, Mubarikpur Royalty Company, JSM Foods Private limited and PS Buildtech, which were allegedly involved in illegal mining.

As per the ED, Panwar, his wife and two sons have shareholdings in Development Strategies India Private Limited, which is allegedly a part of the mining syndicate. He and his family hold nearly 32 per cent shareholding in the company. Even in an affidavit filed by Panwar for the 2019 Assembly poll, he declared that he and his wife had 9 per cent shareholding each.

The ED further submitted that his wife and sons submitted in their statements that Panwar looked after business transactions for the family, too. He was one of the direct beneficiaries of “proceeds” generated by illegal mining. Based on material and finding, it was revealed that Panwar had received proceeds to the tune of nearly Rs 26 crore.

In his statement to the ED, Panwar stated that he had given a loan without interest to all these companies and had received it back, but there was no loan agreement nor was any interest charged against the loans. The ED submitted that it depicted that Panwar was a part of the mining syndicate.