ED raids houses of two doctors in Panchkula in alleged forest scam case

Panchkula: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials earlies this week raided the houses of two doctor brothers in Sector-25, Panchkula and the skill centre in Raipur Rani in connection with the alleged forest scam case.

Conducting search and seizure operations at the residences of the doctors, the ED officials examined the documents related to the scam for several hours. The raid under the protection of central security forces started around 7 am and lasted till evening.

It was headed by assistant director-level officers which included four ED officers and three CRPF personnel. During the raid, the CRPF maintained a vigilant watch outside the properties ensuring that no one was permitted to enter or approach the properties of the doctors.

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Apart from raiding their residences, the ED officials also searched the skill centre in Raipur Rani and checked the records. According to a TOI news report, the doctor brothers are suspected to be linked with the alleged forest scam case linked to former Uttarakhand Minister Harak Singh Rawat.

The ED officials on the same day raided a dozen locations in Delhi, Chandigarh and Uttarakhand in connection with the case. The latest vigilance operation against the properties of Harak Singh Rawat was ordered by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

During Rawat's tenure as the state forest minister in the BJP Government, he and some of his departmental officers had come under serious allegations related to their involvement in illegal tree cutting and construction in the Pakhro range of Corbett Park under the Tiger Safari Project.

As per the Forest Survey of India (FSI) report, more than 6,000 trees were illegally cut in the Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) against the permission of 163 for the Pakhru tiger safari. However, the state forest department refuted the FSI's claims and said that some technical issues needed to be resolved before finally accepting the report.

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