ED attaches assets of kin of gangster who 'managed' crime money of Lawrence Bishnoi

New Delhi: Cash, bank deposits and land worth Rs 17.82 crore belonging to the family members of 'gangster' Surender Singh alias Chiku have been attached as part of a money laundering investigation against the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and others, the Enforcement Directorate said on Sunday.

The immovable assets are located in Haryana's Narnaul and Rajasthan's Jaipur, the central agency said in a statement.

It said Chiku was "managing the crime money of Lawrence Bishnoi through his gang members and acquired properties in the names of his family members and relatives."

Chiku is currently lodged in Tihar jail and was arrested in this case by the ED in February after the agency conducted searches against his family members and linked persons in Rajasthan and Haryana.

The probe found, the ED said, alleged 'illegal' involvement of Chiku in mining businesses in Narnaul through a company called Nimawat Granites Pvt. Ltd.

"Surender Singh Chiku wielded his criminal clout and introduced his brother-in-law Vikash Kumar as a director and a shareholder in this company that was awarded a mining tender at Bakhrija mines in Narnaul. Through this deal, Surender Singh Chiku and Vikash Kumar extorted Rs 2.84 crore without business investment," the agency claimed.

The 'proceeds of crime' extorted from mining businesses were acquired through legal banking channel, channelised into normal economy and used to purchase immovable properties and for personal consumption, it claimed.

The agency said it conducted a drone survey of the mined area in the presence of mining and revenue officials to make calibrated estimates of the extorted money from mining businesses under the patronage of gangster Chiku.

"It has emerged that the quarrying has resulted in extraction of more than 1 lakh metric tonnes of stones from these mines," the ED said.

The ED's money laundering case stems from multiple Haryana Police FIRs against Chiku and his family members on charges of kidnapping, murder and extortion, etc.