IANS | 25 Apr, 2024
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials are questioning five
district collectors of Tamil Nadu in a case related to illegal sand
mining.
The district collectors of Vellore, Tiruchirappalli,
Karur, Thanjavur and Ariyalur are being questioned at the ED office in
Chennai.
It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had on February
28, 2024, directed five district collectors of Tamil Nadu to appear
before the ED in connection with the ongoing money laundering probe
carried out by the agency.
The division bench of the Supreme Court
comprising Justices Bela M. Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal had termed the
plea of Tamil Nadu state and its officials as strange and unusual.
The
Supreme Court bench stayed the Madras High Court order, granting relief
to the five district collectors. The state government and five district
collectors moved the Madras High Court that stayed the ED summons,
asking the collectors to appear before it.
ED had earlier informed
Madras High Court that the total value of illegal excess sand mining
done from the five districts in one or two years was around Rs 4,760
crore while the revenue shown officially was Rs 36.45 crore.
The
Central agency had conducted raids at multiple locations during
September 2023, including sand mining areas and sand stockyards.
ED
had then claimed to have unearthed fake bills and counterfeit QR codes.
These documents have revealed that this was for subverting payment of
GST leading to heavy losses for the state and Central governments.
The
Central agency had then conducted raids at the premises of certaim
business persons and had in a statement said that it had provisionally
attached assets valued at Rs 130.60 crore.
This includes movable assets worth Rs 128.34 crore and consists of 209 sand excavators.