FEMA case: ED seizes Rs 2.54 crore in cash including wads hidden in washing machine
New Delhi, Mar 26: The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday said it has seized Rs 2.54 crore "unexplained" cash, including a part of it hidden in a washing machine, during searches in various cities linked to a case of alleged violation of the foreign exchange law.
The premises of companies like Capricornian Shipping and Logistics Pvt Ltd and its directors Vijay Kumar Shukla and Sanjay Goswami and associated entities Laxmiton Maritime, Hindustan International, Rajnandini Metals Limited, Stawart Alloys India Pvt Ltd, Bhagyanagar Limited, Vinayak Steels Limited, Vashishta Constructions Pvt Ltd and their directors/partners Sandeep Garg, Vinod Kedia and others were searched, it said in a statement.
The central agency did not say when these searches were executed at various locations in Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Kurukshetra in Haryana.
It also did not mention from where the cash kept in the washing machine was recovered.
The action was undertaken on the basis of "credible information" that the entities were involved in sending foreign exchange outside India "on a large- scale" and made "suspicious" outward remittances amounting to Rs 1,800 crore to Galaxy Shipping and Logistics Pte Ltd. and Horizon Shipping and Logistics Pte Ltd, Singapore.
Both these overseas entities are managed by a person named Anthony De Silva, it said.
Capricornian Shipping and Logistics Pvt Ltd, Laxmiton Maritime along with its associates made outward remittance to the tune of Rs 1,800 crore to the Singapore-based entities in the garb of bogus freight services, imports and layering them through web of complex transactions with the help of shell entities like Neha Metals, Amit Steel Traders, Triple M Metal and Alloys and HMS Metals.
During the course of the search, unexplained cash amounting to Rs 2.54 crore, part of which was hidden in a washing machine, was found and all of this amount has been seized apart from various "incriminating" documents and digital devices.
A total of 47 bank accounts have been frozen as well, the ED said.
ED has conducted searches under the provisions of FEMA,1999 at the premises of M/s. Capricornian Shipping & Logistics Pvt Ltd and its directors Vijay Kumar Shukla and Sanjay Goswami and associated entities M/s. Laxmiton Maritime, M/s. Hindustan International, M/s. Rajnandini… pic.twitter.com/0EDzrjrlRJ
— ED (@dir_ed) March 26, 2024
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MP: 40 years after Bhopal gas disaster, toxic waste leaves Union Carbide factory for disposal
Bhopal, Jan 1: Forty years after the Bhopal gas tragedy, the shifting of some 377 tons of hazardous waste began from the defunct Union Carbide factory on Wednesday night for its disposal, an official said.
The toxic waste is being shifted in 12 sealed container trucks to the Pithampur industrial area in Dhar district, 250 km away from Bhopal.
"12 container trucks carrying the waste set off on a non-stop journey around 9 pm. A green corridor has been created for the vehicles which are expected to reach Pithampur industrial area in Dhar district in seven hours," said Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department Director Swatantra Kumar Singh.
He said around 100 people worked in 30-minute shifts since Sunday to pack and load the waste in trucks.
"They underwent health check-ups and were given rest every 30 minutes," he added.
Highly toxic methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leaked from the Union Carbide pesticide factory on the intervening night of December 2-3, 1984, killing at least 5,479 people and leaving thousands with serious and long-lasting health issues. It is considered to be among the worst industrial disasters in the world.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on December 3 rebuked authorities for not clearing the Union Carbide site in Bhopal despite directions from even the Supreme Court and set a four-week deadline to shift the waste, observing that even 40 years after the gas tragedy, authorities were in a "state of inertia".
The high court bench had warned the government of contempt proceedings if its directive was not followed.
"If everything is found to be fine, the waste will be incinerated within three months. Otherwise, it might take up to nine months," Singh told PTI on Wednesday morning.
Initially, some of the waste will be burnt at the waste disposal unit in Pithampur and the residue (ash) will be examined to find whether any harmful elements are left, Singh said.
The smoke from the incinerator will pass through special four-layer filters so that the surrounding air is not polluted, he added.
Once it is confirmed that no traces of toxic elements are left, the ash will be covered by a two-layer membrane and buried to ensure it does not come in contact with soil and water in any way.
A team of experts under the supervision of officials of the Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Board will carry out the process, Singh said.
Some local activists have claimed that 10 tons of Union Carbide waste was incinerated on a trial basis in Pithampur in 2015, after which the soil, underground water and water sources in surrounding villages became polluted.
But Singh rejected the claim, stating that the decision to dispose of the waste at Pithampur was taken only after the report of the 2015 test and all the objections were examined.
There would be no reason to worry, he said.
A large number of people had on Sunday taken out a protest march in Pithampur to oppose the disposal of Union Carbide waste in the city which has a population of about 1.75 lakh.
12 trucks carrying 337 tonnes of toxic waste from the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, stored for 40 years, left at 9:05 p.m. for Pithampur near Indore. The waste is expected to arrive early on January 2nd, following a 250-km green corridor with heavy security.
— The Hindu (@the_hindu) January 1, 2025
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