ED Raids Multiple Places Linked to Scam Involving Former Uttarakhand Minister

Multiple raids were carried out by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in different locations in connection to the in an alleged forest scam case linked to former Uttarakhand Minister Harak Singh Rawat, sources said on Wednesday.

Reportedly, the raid was carried out at multiple locations in Delhi, Chandigarh, and Uttarakhand.

During Rawat's tenure as the State Forest Minister in the BJP Government, he and some of his departmental officers were accused of involvement in illegal tree-cutting and construction activities in the Pakhro range of Corbett Park under the Tiger Safari Project.

The report from the Forest Survey of India (FSI) stated that over 6,000 trees were unlawfully felled in the Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR), surpassing the permitted 163 for the Pakhru tiger safari. However, the state forest department refuted the FSI's claims and said that some technical issues needed to be resolved before finally accepting the report.

The Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, has ordered a latest operation to monitor the properties of Harak Singh Rawat.

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