<p>Jalandhar: The ED on Thursday arrested former Punjab minister and Congress leader Bharat Bhushan Ashu in a tender "scam" linked money-laundering case, officials said.</p><p>Ashu (53) was taken into custody after questioning at the zonal office of the federal agency here.</p><p>The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had raided the premises of Ashu, Raman Balasubramanium, a former chairman of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust, and some others in August 2023.</p>.Raids at AP Mahesh Cooperative bank: ED probe reveals large scale irregularities in sanction of loans, operation by top execs.<p>The money-laundering investigation stems from a Punjab Vigilance Bureau FIR related to the state government's transportation and labour cartage policy of 2021 and complaints related to a Ludhiana Improvement Trust "scam" regarding allotment of plots to bogus persons.</p><p>It was alleged that the tenders "were allotted to contractors who approached the minister (Ashu) through Rakesh Kumar Singla, chairman of CVC, Food and Civil Supplies", the ED had said.</p><p>Ashu is a former minister of food and civil supplies in the Punjab government.</p>
<p>Jalandhar: The ED on Thursday arrested former Punjab minister and Congress leader Bharat Bhushan Ashu in a tender "scam" linked money-laundering case, officials said.</p><p>Ashu (53) was taken into custody after questioning at the zonal office of the federal agency here.</p><p>The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had raided the premises of Ashu, Raman Balasubramanium, a former chairman of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust, and some others in August 2023.</p>.Raids at AP Mahesh Cooperative bank: ED probe reveals large scale irregularities in sanction of loans, operation by top execs.<p>The money-laundering investigation stems from a Punjab Vigilance Bureau FIR related to the state government's transportation and labour cartage policy of 2021 and complaints related to a Ludhiana Improvement Trust "scam" regarding allotment of plots to bogus persons.</p><p>It was alleged that the tenders "were allotted to contractors who approached the minister (Ashu) through Rakesh Kumar Singla, chairman of CVC, Food and Civil Supplies", the ED had said.</p><p>Ashu is a former minister of food and civil supplies in the Punjab government.</p>