ED seizes Rs 38.43 lakh, freezes BMW among 8 vehicles in Maha, MP in illegal sand mining case

New Delhi [India], January 16 (ANI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday said it has seized unaccounted cash of Rs 38.43 lakh, voluminous incriminating documents containing evidence of illegal sand mining during searches conducted at 16 premises located in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in respect to investigation relating to illegal sand mining from the sand ghats located in and around area of Nagpur and Bhandra districts of Maharashtra.
The searches were carried out earlier this week in the Bhopal, Hoshangabad, and Betul districts of Madhya Pradesh, and in the Nagpur and Bhandara districts of Maharashtra.
ED said the searches also led to the freezing of movable assets in the form of a bank balance worth Rs 1.34 crore and the seizure of eight vehicles, including one BMW, two Fortuners, one Thar, two JCB machines, and two Pokland Machines.
ED's Nagpur sub-zonal office carried out the search operations under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, based on its investigation initiated on the basis of offences registered under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code, 186,0 at Sadar and Ambazari Police Station of Nagpur City against Narendra Pimple, Amol alias Guddu Khorgade and others.
According to the agency, these accused persons were accused of running an organised illegal sand mining operation by using forged Electronic Transit Permits to extract, transport, and sell sand unlawfully.
"It was revealed that despite the sand ghats around Nagpur being closed, the sand mafia, in collusion with transporters and others, were actively engaged in illegal excavation of sand from the sand ghats and receiving fake royalties from Madhya Pradesh and using the same to sell illegal sand in Nagpur. Several such cases have been booked by the Police Authorities against the offenders," said the ED.
The money laundering investigation conducted by the ED has revealed that illegal sand mining was being carried out on a large scale by organised sand mafia groups.
"They adopted a planned and deceptive method to avoid detection by law enforcement agencies during the transportation of illegal sand. Investigation has shown that a syndicate led by Rahul Khanna and Bablu Agarwal was preparing false and fabricated Electronic Transit Permits (ETPs) in the names of legally leased sand ghats in Madhya Pradesh.
"These fake ETPs were sold to sand mafia operators in Nagpur for amounts ranging from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000 per ETP. Using these fake ETPs, the sand mafia operators transported illegally excavated sand from sand ghats located in Nagpur and nearby areas," said the ED in a statement.
However, in government records, ED said, the accused falsely showed that the sand was loaded from legally leased ghats in Madhya Pradesh.
"The vehicle numbers mentioned in the ETPs were also shown as valid and registered on the government portal. However, analysis of GPS data of these vehicles revealed that the vehicles never travelled to the Madhya Pradesh ghats as mentioned in the ETPs," it stated.
Instead, the agency said, during the same time period shown in the ETPs, the vehicles made repeated trips from illegal sand ghats in and around Nagpur. "Through this method, the accused persons earned large illegal profits and caused heavy loss to the Government by evading royalty and taxes. The Proceeds of Crime (POC) generated from these activities are prima facie estimated to be more than Rs 30 crore."

The agency said its search operation led to the seizure of "unaccounted and unexplainable cash of Rs 38.43 lakh, voluminous incriminating documents, records, property papers, digital devices containing evidence of illegal sand mining and thereby deriving huge POC and investing the same in the acquisition of properties." (ANI)