The premises connected to Surender Panwar and his assistants in Sonepat were searched by the ED in January.
Surender Panwar, a Sonepat Congress MLA, was detained by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday in relation to a money-laundering case involving illicit mining in Yamunanagar and several other parts of the state.
PTI claims that at the time, armed members of the central paramilitary forces escorted the ED teams.
The money laundering case is the result of multiple First Information Reports (FIRs) filed by the Haryana Police to investigate earlier allegations of illicit mining of boulders, gravel, and sand in Yamuna Nagar and surrounding regions, even after the lease had expired and a court order had been issued.
Along with investigating potential fraud, the national agency is looking into the ‘e-ravan’ system, an online site introduced by the Haryana government in 2020 with the goal of streamlining tax and royalties collection and preventing tax evasion in mining areas.
Panwar resigned from his position as assembly speaker in July 2022, citing personal reasons such as dangers to his family’s safety and well-being.
Panwar had written, “My son has been receiving death threats, but I am withdrawing my resignation since you have assured me that adequate security will be provided to us.”
The Sonepat MLA later announced that he was rescinding his resignation after receiving assurances from Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta regarding sufficient safety measures.
“The speaker invited me to come see him face-to-face. He gave me and the other MLAs his word that appropriate steps would be taken to guarantee our protection and that those responsible would be found and apprehended,” Panwar had stated.
Legal experts had pointed out that without personally hearing Panwar, the speaker could hardly have accepted his resignation based only on an electronic correspondence.
