ED attaches fresh PACL assets worth over Rs 1,986 crore
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday said it has attached fresh properties worth over Rs 1,986 crore as part of its money laundering investigation against Chandigarh-based PACL (Pearls Group), accused of orchestrating a Rs 48,000 crore Ponzi scheme.
The latest action has taken the total value of assets attached so far in the case to Rs 7,589 crore.
In a statement, the agency said it has provisionally attached 37 immovable properties, located in Punjab's Ludhiana and Jaipur in Rajasthan, valued at Rs 1,986.48 crore, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
A part of the alleged illicit funds generated from this fraud was used for the acquisition of these 37 assets, it said.
The ED probe stems from a CBI case against PACL Ltd, its late promoter Nirmal Singh Bhangoo and some others.
Bhangoo died in August 2024.
The accused entities and individuals of PACL operated an "illegal" collective investment scheme, fraudulently mobilising over Rs 60,000 crore from lakhs of investors across India under the guise of sale and development of agricultural land, as per the ED.
Investors were induced to invest through cash down payment and instalment payment plans and were made to sign "misleading" documents, including agreements, powers of attorney, and other instruments, it said.
"In the majority of cases, no land was ever delivered, and approximately Rs 48,000 crore remains unpaid to investors," the agency said.
Three charge sheets have been filed by the ED till now as part of this case registered in 2016.
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Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
