Money laundering case: ED attaches assets worth ₹4 crore of Punjab ex-SSP
ED has attached immovable or movable assets worth ₹4.07 crore of former senior superintendent of police (SSP) of the Punjab Police, Surjit Singh Grewal in a money laundering case
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached immovable or movable assets worth ₹4.07 crore of former senior superintendent of police (SSP) of the Punjab Police, Surjit Singh Grewal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, on Thursday.
The Central agency initiated the investigation against Grewal under the provisions of the PMLA by registering an enforcement case information report (ECIR) in August 2019 on the basis of an FIR registered by the Vigilance Bureau, Punjab, against him for incurring excess expenditure above his known lawful sources of income.
The ED investigation revealed that Grewal had laundered the proceeds of crime (POC) totalling ₹4.07 crore and had purchased various immovable/movable properties (lands/vehicles) in his name, in name of family members and other persons known to them over and above the income so earned by them. Grewal was posted as SSP (vigilance) at Jalandhar and Ferozepur ranges. He also served as the SSP of Moga and Fazilka during the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) rule. He retired in 2014. He had also probed a disproportionate assets case against former chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh’s adviser Bharat Inder Singh Chahal.
The Patiala wing of the VB had conducted a detailed inquiry against Grewal after a US-based non-resident Indian (NRI), Sarabjit Singh complained to the bureau chief director in 2015. An FIR was registered on December 21, 2017, in which Grewal was accused of indulging in corruption and misusing office during his service. In its report, the VB found Grewal to possess assets worth six times his known income and found him making benami property investments. He also purchased 5kg gold at ₹1.5 crore and invested ₹1 crore in a private company in the name of a relative, it is alleged.
The VB claims to have found irregularities during scrutiny of Grewal’s property details of 15 years from April 1, 1999, to December 31, 2014. As per the FIR, the VB found that he had a net income of ₹2.12 crore in 15 years, but purchased properties (moveable and immovable) worth ₹12.19 crore in that period. “Being a public servant with the Punjab Police, Grewal had completely misused his post and office and had spent way more than his income in the mentioned 15 years, while making illegal assets through corrupt means,” the report reads.
