ED Arrests Harsh Yadav for Illegally Possessing Sealed Property Linked to Drug Trafficking

The Directorate of Enforcement has arrested Harsh Yadav for taking illegal possession of an Rs. 85.60 Lakh property in Gurugram, which is linked to proceeds from drug trafficking. Yadav is accused of knowingly misusing the seized property for rental income. He is in ED custody for five days.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has arrested Harsh Yadav in connection with taking illegal possession of an immovable property worth Rs. 85.60 lakh, which was attached by the ED in Gurugram. The arrest was made on September 11.

The ED revealed that Harsh Yadav was fully aware that the property directly constituted Proceeds of Crime (POC) from illicit drug trafficking orchestrated by Amit Kumar, Archana Sharma, and others. The Court of Additional Sessions Judge in Gurugram has granted ED custody of Yadav for five days. The investigation stems from a criminal complaint and chargesheet filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau, Delhi, under various sections of the NDPS Act of 1985 against Amit Kumar, Sanjay Singh, Archana Sharma, Zatak Softech Pvt. Ltd. (ZSPL), and others.

The probe uncovered that Amit Kumar of ZSPL was running an internet-based pharmacy exporting narcotic drugs and psychotropic medicines abroad, primarily to the USA, on behalf of another firm, Farma Glow. Authorities have seized significant quantities of narcotics, psychotropic medicines, 17 forged rubber stamps of different authorities, and incriminating documents including a list of 57 websites and an order list of psychotropic substances. The total POC in this case amounts to Rs. 23.32 crore. These criminal proceeds were used by Amit Kumar to acquire various real estate properties.

To date, the ED has attached seven properties valued at Rs. 5.73 crore, including the one at 343, Tower-B3, 3rd Floor, Spaze-I, Tech Park, Sector-49, Gurugram, Haryana. Although the ED had seized and taken possession of this property, it had been unlawfully unsealed and taken over by Harsh Yadav, who then rented it out to another individual, falsely claiming ownership. Yadav knowingly benefited from these illegal proceeds by creating a rental agreement in his mother's name, Babita Yadav, for the seized property.

A search conducted by the ED at Harsh Yadav's residence led to the recovery of various incriminating evidence, including documents that prima facie appear to be forged. Additionally, it came to light that another FIR has been filed against Harsh Yadav by the Gurugram Police, involving offenses such as forgery, counterfeiting of coins, currency, and government stamps.

(With inputs from agencies.)