The Enforcement Directorate has conducted searches in five States as part of a money-laundering probe into the alleged embezzlement of church funds.
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The searches were carried out in Pune (Maharashtra); Pachmarhi and Indore (Madhya Pradesh); Jalandhar (Punjab) and Kolkata (West Bengal).
The ED investigation is based on a First Information Report registered by the Economic Offences Wing of the Madhya Pradesh police against P. C. Singh, former chairman of the Board Education Church of North India (Jabalpur).
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Through a statement, the agency on April 28 said prima facie, various office bearers of the organisation, including Mr. Singh and a former managing director of a trust under the organisation, were allegedly found involved in the misappropriation of funds through the sale/renting out of church properties at low rates by showing them as being in poor condition or encroached.
Quoting an instance, the ED alleged that one-acre land with a building at Satpura National Park & Hill Station, Panchmarhi (Madhya Pradesh) was rented out for a period of 15 years at ₹12,500 per month to Satpura Resorts Private Limited.
Earlier, the agency had searched the premises linked to Mr. Singh in Jabalpur, Mumbai, Ranchi and Nagpur, during which over ₹5.37 lakh in cash was seized from his residence. He was arrested by the ED on April 12 and taken into custody for questioning. He is currently in judicial remand.