The ED has once again cracked down on former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in the disproportionate assets case. It has attached land worth Rs 793 crore belonging to Dalmia Cements. The ED office in Hyderabad issued a provisional attachment order on March 31. It is alleged that 417 hectares of limestone leases in Kadapa district were illegally attached to Dalmia.
The ED is investigating the money laundering case based on the CBI chargesheet that Jagan took bribes of about Rs 150 crore from Dalmia. The attachment order was received by Dalmia Cements on the night of the 15th of this month. Dalmia Cements stated that the value of the land when purchased was Rs 377 crore.
The CBI and ED have alleged irregularities in the allocation of limestone mine leases in 407 hectares in Talamanchipatnam and Nawabpet in Mylavaram mandal of Kadapa district. The CBI investigation has revealed that the YS Rajasekhar Reddy government, at the instigation of Jagan, had tied up Dalmia Cements against the rules.
In return, the CBI alleges that Jagan received Rs.150 crore in bribes from Dalmia. The CBI chargesheet states that Dalmia gave Rs.95 crore in the form of shares in Raghuram Cements and another Rs.55 crore through hawala. The CBI had planned to add another Rs.85 crore through hawala, but it was stopped after the CBI registered a case.
The CBI filed a chargesheet against Jagan, Vijayasai Reddy, Puneeth Dalmia, Sabita Indra Reddy, Srilakshmi, Rajagopal and others in 2013. Based on this, the Enforcement Directorate has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and is investigating. The ED case investigation did not move forward for a long time due to stay orders.
The ED has recently attached the assets. The ED has filed 9 chargesheets in the Jagan disproportionate assets case so far. The court tried to file chargesheets several times in the Bharati Cements and Dalmia Cements cases, but the court sent them back due to technical errors. It seems that the ED is working to file chargesheets soon.