Enforcement directorate (ED) officials visited residential premises of Ragvendra Singh Tomar to execute an arrest warrant issued against him by special PMLA court in Bhopal in an alleged money laundering case.
As Tomar was not found home, the warrant was handed over to his wife on Thursday evening.
Sources informed that ED had to visit his house without local police force as they expressed reluctance fearing political chaos. Tomar was probed by ED after it started an investigation into the assets of IAS couple Arvind Joshi and Tinu Joshi almost a decade after they were raided by Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta organization in an alleged disproportionate assets case.
The owner of Faith builders, Ragvendra Singh Tomar –- who was also searched by Income Tax (I-T) officials, was summoned for personal appearance by ED with documents relevant to certain properties which investigators firmly believe are linked with the Joshi couple. He was charge-sheeted before the special court on January 10.
The I-T department had in February 2010 raided Joshi’s home in Bhopal. There they had seized Rs 3 crore and documents related to multiple assets. Inquiry allegedly revealed that Raghavendra Singh Tomar, owner of Faith Group, had a stake in Joshi’s assets. I-T officials had taken action against Faith Builder and a case was registered to probe investment into 10 to 15 acres of land owned by the group. I-T officials say land of Faith Cricket Academy is in the inventory of assets under scrutiny. Land is valued at Rs 10 crore.
More than 100 different properties include 220 acres of agricultural land, flats, houses and plots taken from different places were examined by ED. The total value of these assets is over Rs 100 crore and some of them have been attached. Most of them are in the names of parents, servants and their families with some of them located at Raisen, Sehore and Mandla.
In August 2020 income-tax officials, disguised as Corona warriors, had launched a dramatic operation against two builders including Tomar. More than 20 locations, including the residential and company premises of individuals. Tomar has been linked to a minister, who is said to have played a key role in the circumstances that led to the fall of the Kamal Nath-led Congress government in March last year.
