Money laundering case: Virbhadra Singh to appear before ED

The CBI has filed a charge sheet against Virbhadra Singh, his wife and others for allegedly amassing assets worth around Rs 10 crore disproportionate to their known sources of income.

New Delhi, April 20: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, accused in a money laundering case, is likely to present himself before the Enforcement Directorate, ED on Thursday, an official said.

Singh will appear before the investigating officer at the ED Headquarters in New Delhi. "We hope that Singh will be present at the ED Headquarters here as we haven't received any information from his office so far," ED spokesperson told IANS.

The ED had summoned Singh in the money laundering case on April 18 and had said that he must appear before it on April 20. Earlier the ED had summoned him on April 13. But he failed.

The senior Congress leader had earlier allegedly avoided summons to get his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, PMLA.

In the first week of April, the ED attached Singh's Delhi farmhouse worth Rs 27.29 crore.

The ED had filed a criminal case under the PMLA against Virbhadra Singh, his wife Pratibha, Life Insurance Corporation agent Anand Chauhan, his associate Chunni Lal, and others in 2015 following the CBI's FIR dated September 23, that year.

The case was registered after a preliminary inquiry found that Singh as Union Minister from 2009 to 2012 allegedly accumulated assets worth Rs 6.03 crore, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income.

After his Delhi farmhouse was attached, the Chief Minister accused that "central agencies like the ED and CBI were being misused against political opponents by the Centre."

IANS