A local court today granted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) permission to record the statement of NRI Anoop Singh Kahlon and another suspect in connection with the multi-crore drug haul from Zirakpur.
Assistant Director of the ED's Jalandhar zonal office, Niranjan Singh, had moved an application before Special Judge Kuldip Singh seeking to question Kahlon, a key accused in the case, and Devinder Singh alias Happy.
Kahlon was arrested by Punjab police after recovery of a huge quantity of heroin from him. The case against him was registered at Fatehgarh Sahib police station on March 3.
On April 16, police arrested Devinder, a resident of Bathinda's Thermal Colony, who was allegedly carrying the consignment for Kahlon. He is presently in judicial custody at the high-security jail at Nabha in Patiala district.
As per the application, the statements of Kahlon and Devinder are required to be recorded under Section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
Niranajan Singh, who is the investigating officer in the case, said that as both suspects were in judicial custody, the court's permission was required to record their statement.
The ED wants to investigate their role in a bid to unearth links with others facing similar allegations.
The court issued directions to the Superintendent of Nabha jail to provide the necessary assistance to the ED in the matter.
