SRINAGAR: Former BJP minister and chief of Jammu-based Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party (DSSP) Choudhary Lal Singh was Tuesday evening arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.
His arrest took place after a local court rejected his pre-arrest bail plea. He was arrested from a house in Chawadi area of Sainik Colony on the outskirts of Jammu.
After his arrest, he was taken to ED’s office in Jammu, where he spent the night.
In the morning today, Lal Singh was taken to Government Medical College, Jammu for a routine medical check-up and some tests were conducted on him.
Rejecting the bail application yesterday, Special CBI Judge for Jammu, Bala Joyti, had observed that in view of the nature of allegations and the gravity of the accusation and the stage of investigation, the investigating agency must be given sufficient time in conducting and analyzing an effective investigation.
The court, however, extended the pre-arrest bail of Lal Singh’s wife Kanta Andotra and daughter. Their interim anticipatory bail was extended till November 30.
Singh is under investigation by ED as part of a case lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against an educational trust run by his wife and former legislator Kanta Andotra.
Before his arrest, Lal Singh was questioned by ED sleuths at its office in Jammu on Saturday and Monday.
Lal Singh served as BJP minister in the last PDP-BJP coalition government in J&K. He later quit the saffron party and floated his own party Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party (DSSP).
After Article 370 abrogation, Lal Singh has been demanding constitutional safeguards on the pattern of Article 371 for J&K residents and is also a votary of a separate Jammu state.