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ED case on Amarinder Singh's son: 'Witch-hunting' says former CM

ED summons Amarinder Singh's son in foreign assets case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Raninder Singh, son of former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, in connection with its probe against him for alleged forex contraventions and holding of untaxed foreign assets.

 

Official sources said Raninder has been summoned by the agency at its Chandigarh office to explain the alleged movement of funds to Switzerland and creation of a trust and few subsidiaries in the tax haven of British Virgin Islands.

 

The said instances have earlier been investigated by the Income Tax department and a case in this regard is currently in court in Punjab. The next hearing, in this case, is slated for July 26.

 

When contacted, Raninder said he had nothing to hide and was willing to cooperate on the issue.

 

"This was already being looked into by the Income Tax authorities. We have nothing to hide, and we will fully cooperate with the Enforcement Directorate," he said.

 

The case came to fore when Income Tax department received details of Raninder allegedly holding the offshore account in the alpine nation as part of details received in this regard by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) from their French counterparts in 2011.

 

Sources said ED investigators have gathered necessary documents in this regard from the tax department, and the RBI and they suspect alleged "contravention of the Foreign Exchange Management Act" by Raninder and hence require him to join investigations.

 

Both Raninder and his father Amrinder Singh, a Lok Sabha Member, have denied any wrongdoing and have termed as false these charges made against them.

 

Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh has termed as "witch-hunting" by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley the ED summons to his son to avenge his defeat in the Lok Sabha polls. Singh had defeated Jaitley in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in Amritsar.

 

"They are deliberately doing it at regular intervals to defame us ahead of elections," he said, adding not only will these complaints fall flat in courts but be rejected by the Punjabis in assembly elections too.

           

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