ED arrests 'absconding' ex-Haryana Cong MLA Dharam Chhoker from Delhi hotel

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested "absconding" former Haryana Congress MLA Dharam Singh Chhoker from a 5-star hotel in Delhi following a brief scuffle, agency officials said Monday.

The 61-year-old ex-legislator was taken into custody from the 'Grappa Bar' of the Shangri-La hotel in central Delhi shortly after 9 pm on Sunday.

ED officials said an "intelligence input" was 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 (NBWs) issued against him apart from a proclaimed offender notification issued by a special PMLA court of Gurugram, they said. 

Officials alleged Chhoker, on being confronted by the ED officer, started rushing towards the exit. 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, the agency officials said.

Chhoker is being produced before a court in Gurugram on Monday, they said.

The former MLA from the Samalkha assembly seat in Panipat district had lost the Haryana assembly polls last year.

Chhoker, his sons Vikas Chhoker (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 on jail. 

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 stems from a Gurugram Police FIR filed against Sai Aaina Farms and associated companies.

The allegations against the accused include submission of "forged" documents, including fake bank guarantees, to obtain licenses for external and internal development works.

"This fraudulent activity was carried out in connection with promised affordable housing projects at Sector 68, 103 and 104 in Gurugram and the company collected around Rs 616 crore from 3,700 home buyers.

"However, the company failed to deliver the houses within the promised timelines and misappropriated the funds," the ED had said.

Probe found, it said, that funds collected from homebuyers were "diverted" for personal gains by the company's directors and promoters even as some of the money was "transferred" to other group entities as loans which remained "outstanding" for years.

A chargesheet was filed by the ED in April, 2024 against Sikandar Singh Chhoker, companies linked to him like Mahira Infratech Pvt. Ltd. and D S Home Construction Pvt. Ltd. and some others.