Money laundering case: ED arrests Bharat Bhushan Ashu’s close aide

Chandigarh: Rajdeep Nagra, an alleged close aide of Congress leader Bharat Bhushan Ashu, has been arrested by the ED in a money laundering case related to the tender scam.

Nagra was taken into custody on Wednesday night after day-long searches at four business and residential locations in the state, including Khanna district, the sources said.

Former Punjab Consumer Affairs, Food and Civil Supplies Minister and Working President of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee Bharat Bhushan Ashu was arrested by the central agency on August 1 in connection with the case.

The money-laundering probe began with an FIR by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in connection with a tender scam in the Food Department of Punjab.

The Congress leader was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in August 2022 in connection with the case. A year later, in August 2023, the ED raided the premises of Ashu, Raman Balasubrahmanyam, former chairman of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust, and a few others.