NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Monday said that it has arrested absconding former Haryana Congress MLA Dharam Singh Chhoker from a five-star hotel in Delhi following a brief scuffle in a case of cheating more than 1,500 homebuyers and siphoning over Rs 500 crore funds from them.Chokar, 61-year-old, was taken into custody from the ‘Grappa Bar’ of the Shangri-La hotel in central Delhi shortly after 9 pm on Sunday, the agency said in a statement. The central financial agency swung into action after intelligence inputs, received by them around 8.30 pm on Sunday that Chhoker was present at the hotel bar along with some people. An agency official soon reached the spot in pursuance of seven non-bailable warrants issued against him apart from a proclaimed offender notification issued by a special PMLA court of Gurugram, they said. Chhoker, on being confronted by the ED officer, started rushing towards the exit but the officer along with ED Gurugram zone joint director Navaneet Aggarwal, who was also present in the hotel, chased the ex-MLA and pinned him down. They alleged Chhoker tried to hit the ED officers and the hotel staff even as the security personnel present around were called in. The ED called up the local police and soon a beat constable arrived and Chhoker was taken to the ED headquarters in Delhi and on Monday he was produced before a court in Gurugram, they said, adding that the court sent him for six days ED custody. The former MLA from the Samalkha Assembly seat in Panipat district had lost the Haryana assembly polls last year. Chhoker, his sons Vikas Chhoker who is also absconding and Sikandar Chhoker face charges of cheating” more than 1,500 homebuyers and siphoning over Rs 500 crore funds from them. Sikandar was arrested by the ED last year and he is currently out of jail on bail. A special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court has issued multiple non-bailable warrants against Dharam Singh Chhoker and Vikas Chhoker. The agency had issued a proclamation against them and directed them to appear before the court on May 19, the ED had said in March. The money laundering case arose from a Gurugram Police FIR filed against Sai Aaina Farms and associated companies.
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