High-octane action unfolded at a five-star hotel in the national capital on Sunday night as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested former Haryana Congress MLA Dharam Singh Chhoker in connection with an alleged money laundering scam worth Rs 1,500 crore.
In a video released by the agency on Tuesday, ED officials can be seen nabbing Chhoker and pinning him to the ground as he attempts to escape towards the exit of the Shangrila Hotel in New . He was zeroed in to be at the location with his bodyguard and a friend based on an , the ED said in a statement.
The case against Chhoker, a close aide of former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, pertains to alleged irregularities in the allotment of flats, houses, and plots by his real estate companies in Gurgaon.
Soon after receiving the intel, ED officials including Joint Director (Gurugram Zone) Navaneet Aggrawal reached the Delhi hotel.
Realising the threat of arrest, Chhoker and his bodyguard are said to have started running towards the exit leading to a chase before Aggarwal and his team managed to catch and pin him to the ground.
During the scuffle, the former MLA tried to hit and hurt the officers and hotel staff. “Chhoker attempted to run from personal detention of IO and later also from the car several times by hurting others but couldn’t succeed,” the ED said in a statement with the video.
: CCTV footage: The ED has arrested Congress’s former Haryana MLA Dharam Singh Chhoker from a five-star hotel in connection with an alleged money laundering scam worth Rs 1,500 crore.
— Mahender Singh Manral (@mahendermanral)
Later, Chhoker was taken to the ED office.
The former MLA and his firms allegedly amassed over Rs 616 crore from investors but failed to deliver the allotments.
In March, the ED had issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). It had also attached about three acres of agricultural land, 2,487 sq m of commercial plots, and eight residential flats located in Delhi, Faridabad, and Panipat.
Assets worth Rs 44.55 crore linked to Chhoker, his sons Vikas and Sikandar, and their company Sai Aaina Farms Pvt Ltd were auctioned by the ED in March.
While Vikas is absconding, Sikandar is out on bail in the case.
