Bhopal: In a fresh development in connection with a money laundering case against former Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer, Arvind Joshi, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets, including residential and agricultural lands and a resort worth Rs 5 crore.
The central probe agency, in a statement on Friday, said that a provisional order had been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach residential plots, agricultural lands, and a functional resort located in Bhopal district.
“Bhopal Zonal Office has provisionally attached immovable properties valued at Rs 5 Crore (approx.) in the form of residential plots, agricultural lands, and a functional Resort located in the Bhopal district, under PMLA, 2002 in the case of Late Arvind Joshi, IAS (MP), the then Principal Secretary to MP Govt., his family members and his associate S P Kohli,” ED said in statement.
Notably, Joshi and his former IAS wife, Tinoo Joshi, have been under investigation by the ED in an alleged Rs 41.87-crore disproportionate assets (DA) money laundering case for more than eight years now.
Arvind Joshi, a 1979-batch ex-IAS officer who retired as principal secretary in the Madhya Pradesh government, died during his treatment at a private hospital in Delhi in 2022 at the age of 68.
The ED had earlier issued a similar attachment order against the couple and filed a chargesheet against them.
The money laundering case stems from a Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta Police FIR against Joshi for possessing DA between July 1979 and December 10, 2010. Following the investigation, both officers were dismissed from service in 2014.
Arvind Joshi had surrendered before a district court in 2015 after the Supreme Court rejected his bail plea on the grounds that he had been on the run and evading probe agencies for a long time.
He had moved SC for anticipatory bail in a Rs 42 crore disproportionate assets case after the dismissal of his plea by the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
(IANS)
