Former Cabinet minister Dr. Harak Singh Rawat skipped ED probe on 29 th Feb. Asked for a month’s time !
The former forest minister of Uttarakhand during the BJP rule, Dr. Harak Singh Rawat who had returned back to Congress just before the 2022 assembly elections summoned by the Enforcement Directorate for questioning on 29 February skipped the interrogation by giving a letter through his advocate asking for a month’s time. His daughter in law, a beauty queen turned politician Anukriti Gusain who has contested but lost on Congress ticket from Lansdowne constituency has also been summoned on 7 th March, 2024. One of the close associate of Dr. Harak Singh Rawat , Laxmi Rana a zila Panchayat member who was also summoned yesterday had reportedly attended the ED office today. It may be recalled that a raid was conducted on 7 February in various locations of Dr.Harak Singh Rawat at Dehradun and Delhi etc by the Enforcement Directorate in which some gold ornaments, documents of properties and cash of Rs.1.20 crores or more were found during the ED raids. The investigations are linked to two separate FIRs registered in Uttarakhand against the former Forest minister Dr.Harak Singh Rawat. According to the summons issued to Dr. Harak Singh Rawat , his daughter in law Anukriti Gusain and others six days ago they were asked to present themselves separately on 29 th February and 7 th March. On February 7 raids were conducted at 17 different locations across Uttarakhand, Haryana and Delhi in which cash worth Rs 2 crores as per TOI report, documents of properties and in connection of illegal felling of 6 thousand trees in Corbett Tiger Reserves were also found. In one of the earlier raids a huge illegally procured inverter of the Forest department was confiscated by the vigilance department / ED being illegally used by Dr.Rawat’s educational institution. The probe also relates to ED investigating one Birender Singh Kandari , who is described as the close associate of Dr.Rawat, former minister alongwith Indian Forest Officer and former DFO Kishan Chand and former forest range officer Brij Bihari Sharma. Sounds interesting that on the one hand Dr.Harak Singh Rawat infamous for changing political parties was trying to bag Congress ticket from Garhwal constituency or Haridwar, on the other hand he seems to be in real mess having sought a month’s time to appear before the ED sleuths of questioning.
