CBI court issues warrant against hawala kingpin Lodha

In a related development and seen as a major setback to Reddy and his associates, both political and bureaucratic, the ED has registered a case against him and his associates on charges of money laundering under the stringent provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). 

The CBI court judge Venkataswamy, who heard the ED’s petition, issued the warrant against Lodha and asked the agency to produce the accused, currently lodged in a prison in New Delhi, in the Chennai court. ED officials here confirmed that they would execute the warrant and produce Parasmal Lodha, a hawala dealer and money launderer based in Kolkata to Chennai in connection with their case against Reddy. The Enforcement Directorate case is set to force out more skeletons from Reddy’s cupboard. 

According to highly placed sources, many politicians, bureaucrats and senior police officers in the state, who were allegedly on the payrolls of Reddy, would come under the ED scanner. ED sources also said they have commenced the investigation into the matter and details regarding the case have been sought from the Income Tax department as well as he Anti-Corruption Branch of CBI in Chennai. ED had arrested Lodha from the Mumbai airport a week ago. He is said to have huge business interests in Tamil Nadu and is said to be a close associate of CP Anbunathan of Karur and Reddy. 

ED officials had carried out the arrest in a well-coordinated operation when Lodha was trying to leave the country for Malaysia after absconding for two days following raids on Reddy by I-T in Chennai.  All the investigating agencies have obtained clear evidences to prove the connections Reddy and his associates had with Lodha.