Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) conducted search operations on October 17, 2023, at eight locations throughout the districts of Jammu and Kathua in the Union Territory of J&K and Pathankot, Punjab, in relation to the RB Educational Trust, Jammu, Ajay Singh, the then-DC Kathua, and other Revenue officers/officials.
Numerous locations have been searched, including the trust’s office in Vill. Karandi Khurd PO Rajbagh Kathua and the aforementioned individuals’ homes. The homes of intermediaries whose names had come up during the course of the investigation, as well as land givers, were also searched.
The ED launched an investigation based on the FIR and subsequent chargesheet filed by CBI ACB, Jammu, against RB Educational Trust, Jammu, Ajay Singh (the then DC Kathua), and other Revenue officers/officials.
The ED’s inquiry uncovered that RB Educational Trust, led by Chairperson Smt. Kanta Andotra (former MLA), her husband Ch. Lal Singh (former Minister and two-time ex-MP), and other trustees, colluded with Ravinder Singh (former Patwari), Gaurav Sharma (former Naib Tehsildar), and Subhash Chander (former Tehsildar). This collaboration formed a criminal conspiracy in 2011 to wrongfully issue ‘fards,’ allowing the retention of more than 328 kanals of land for her trust, exceeding the permissible limit of 100 standard kanals.
During the course of the search, various incriminating documents in the form of property documents, Power of attorneys, hard disk, digital devices, digital evidence and loose papers were found and seized. Further investigation is under progress.
