Overview
- The Enforcement Directorate filed a prosecution complaint before the PMLA court in Jalandhar against Malbros International, its executives and others, following an environmental crime probe.
- Days earlier, the agency provisionally attached land, buildings and plant and machinery valued at ₹79.93 crore under the PMLA through a December 13 order.
- Investigators allege the distillery secretly injected untreated wastewater into deep aquifers via reverse boring and routinely discharged effluents onto land, drains and a nearby sugar mill to cut costs.
- The ED says these actions generated proceeds of crime of about ₹80 crore and caused large-scale ecological harm, with reports citing crop loss, cattle deaths and serious health impacts in nearby villages.
- Central pollution and groundwater boards reported very high levels of toxic metals in local borewells, and earlier ED searches on July 16, 2024 seized ₹78.15 lakh in cash.