ED attaches Raj Tourism officials assets for laundering

The Enforcement Directorate today attached assets worth over Rs 40 lakh of a Rajasthan Tourism department official and another person on charges of money laundering through illegal narcotics trade.
This is the first case of enforcement action by the agency in a narcotics case in the desert state.
The Jaipur zonal office of the central probe agency attached three immovable properties located in Indira Gandhi Nagar in Jaipur's Jagatpura area in the name of Rahul Bhardwaj and Mukesh Kumar Bhardwaj, who has been working as an accountant in the state tourism department.
The ED took up the case under money laundering laws last year taking cognisance of a 2012 FIR filed against the duo by the DRI for allegedly possessing and smuggling drugs.

The DRI had also conducted searches on their premises and recovered over 100 kgs of 'Ketamine' category of drugs and Rs 70.50 lakh in cash.
The DRI, in August 2012, also arrested the duo under provisions of narcotics laws and they are at present lodged in the Jaipur central jail.
The total value of the three properties attached by ED, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) is over Rs 40 lakh, officials privy to the development said.
An attachment order under PMLA is aimed to deprive the accused from the benefits of their ill-gotten wealth.