New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said Friday it has filed a chargesheet against the accused in Bihar hooch tragedy. In the chargesheet main accused Sanjay Pratap Singh’s family members and associates have also been named on money laundering charges. A chargesheet has been filed before a special court in Patna against Sanjay Pratap Singh, his wife Kiran Devi and Srikumar Singh (Sanjay Pratap Singh’s associate) in a 2012 case. Due to consumption of the hooch 21 people had died in Nawada and Arrah towns of Bhojpur district.
The chargesheet has been filed under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) with a prayer for awarding punishment to the accused and confiscation assets totalling to Rs 1.32 crore, the ED said.
“The attached properties that are liable for confiscation (under the PMLA) include 15 plots along with construction on two plots held in the name of accused Sanjay Pratap Singh, his associates, bank balances held in his name and in the name of his un-registered firm Maa Construction,” the ED said.
In 2018, a Bhojpur court had held 14 people, including Sanjay, guilty for the hooch deaths and sentenced them to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 25,000 each, the ED said.
“Sanjay invested the proceeds of the crime generated through illegal trade of country liquor for acquiring immovable properties in his name and in the name of his wife Kiran Devi who had no independent source of income,” the ED said.
“In 2011, with an intention to legalise his tainted income, Sanjay formed an unregistered firm – Bhojpur Wine Traders – to launder the proceeds of crime,” the ED claimed.
PTI