Ahmedabad’s ED office has escalated its fight against wildlife crime by confiscating 14 properties totaling ₹11.3 crore in a money laundering investigation tied to Khair wood smuggling. Invoking PMLA provisions, the agency has frozen assets acquired through illegal forest depredation across Gujarat.
Triggered by a forest officer’s FIR in Surat’s Mandvi South Range, the inquiry exposed a syndicate breaching the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act. Culprits like Mustak Adam Tasiya, Mohammad Tahir Ahmad Hussain, and associates illegally harvested Khair from sanctuaries in Vyara, Tapi, Surat, Valsad, Navsari, and Narmada districts, then funneled the timber interstate for black-market profits.
Beyond revenue losses, the operation ravaged natural habitats critical for biodiversity. Smugglers laundered crores via property investments, leading to the attachment of Godhra-based assets. This follows January 12 seizures of two high-value properties owned by Prem Devi Luniya and Payal Choksey, whose book value understated true worth by millions.
Parallel threads link to banking fraud probed by CBI after Oriental Bank flagged irregularities. Ranjit Luniya’s firms exploited a modest credit line through forged documents and sham valuations, courtesy of complicit valuer Mayur Shah and officials. The ₹1.50 lakh loan snowballed into a ₹10.932 crore bad debt, with funds rerouted for personal gains like gold hoarding and debt repayments.
As probes deepen, ED emphasizes the nexus between environmental plunder and white-collar crime. This crackdown underscores India’s resolve to safeguard forests and dismantle laundering pipelines, with more attachments and arrests on the horizon.
