- विज्ञापन -
Jalandhar, July 18: In connection with the illegal sale of drugs through 22 de-addiction centres in Punjab and the money laundering associated with it, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Jalandhar Zonal team on Friday raided a total of 4 locations in Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Barnala and Mumbai.
The search has been started since this morning. Let us tell you that this case was earlier being investigated by Vigilance Punjab. Which has now been taken over by ED Jalandhar, and an investigation of the case has been started in depth. On the basis of some new facts, this raid was conducted at 4 places, including Mumbai.
The whole matter came into the headlines 7 months ago
Actually, this case came into the limelight 7 months ago, when the Punjab Vigilance Bureau arrested Dr. Amit Bansal, a resident of Chandigarh. Amit Bansal was accused of misusing Adnoc-N (buprenorphine and naloxone) tablets given to patients through 22 private de-addiction centers and selling them illegally outside. In this case, Ludhiana drug inspector Ruppreet Kaur was also made a co-accused, whose arrest was pending then.
The investigation revealed that these pills were being sold to drug addicts from outside instead of those included in the list of de-addiction patients. During the vigilance operation, thousands of pills and about 90 thousand rupees in cash were recovered from Simran Hospital in Ludhiana and other de-addiction centers. After this, cases were registered against Dr. Bansal’s de-addiction centers in Jalandhar and Patiala as well.
ED seized several documents and digital devices
During inspection at Sahaj Hospital in Nakodar, Jalandhar, about 1.44 lakh tablets were found missing from the records. During investigation, it was revealed that Dr Bansal tried to suppress the matter by colluding with departmental officers and employees.
Now ED has also shown activeness in investigating the money laundering angle in this entire case. Officials said that on Friday, searches were conducted at 4 locations in Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Barnala and Mumbai. According to ED sources, many documents and digital evidence have been collected during the raid, the investigation of which is ongoing.
