THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, Feb 24: In relation to a money laundering probe, Harak Singh Rawat, a Congress leader and former minister of Uttarakhand, and others have been summoned by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).
Summons for Feb 29
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned the Congress leader to attend questioning at the agency’s office on February 29.
Rawat, aged 63, previously served as the forest minister of the state and joined the Congress party before the Uttarakhand assembly elections in 2022.
Notably, on February 7, the ED raided locations in Uttarakhand, Haryana, and Delhi, including Rawat’s home, in connection with an alleged forest scam.
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Illegal tree cutting in Corbett Tiger Reserve
As the state forest minister for the BJP government, Rawat faced significant allegations about his involvement in illegal tree-cutting and construction in the Pakhro range of Corbett Park under the Tiger Safari Project, along with several of his departmental subordinates.
In its report, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) stated that the unauthorized cutting of more than 6,000 trees occurred in the Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR), exceeding the permitted limit of 163 trees for the Pakhru tiger safari.
The state forest department, however, denied the FSI’s assertions and insisted that certain technical issues needed to be fixed before the report could be officially accepted.
Before this incident, properties connected to Rawat had already drawn attention from ED officials. Earlier, the Uttarakhand Vigilance Team had conducted raids on an institute situated in Shankarpur, Dehradun, and a petrol pump in Chhiddarwala, both associated with Rawat.
