ED raids on Harak Singh Rawat in Corbett Tiger scam case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on the home of Uttarakhand Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat due to illegal activities in Corbett Park. ED is the Economic Intelligence organization.

Harak Singh Rawat has been the former forest minister from 2016-2022. According to The Press Trust of India Ltd (PTI), the ED raided over ten locations in Uttarakhand and Delhi-NCR. The ED conducted its raids at different locations in Uttarakhand, Delhi, and Chandigarh.

ED conducts raids on #Uttarakhand Congress leader Harak Singh Rawathttps://t.co/JSF96rkZxF pic.twitter.com/QX2iyDzZD6
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) February 7, 2024

The ED inquiry appears to be linked to alleged illegal activities in the state’s Corbett Tiger Reserve. The Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) is the oldest national park in India. It is also one of the largest tiger reserves in the country.

The Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court held Harak Singh Rawat responsible for various illegal activities in CTR last year. He has accusations of forest scam in construction for a tiger safari in 2019.

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Harak allowed the illegal cutting of thousands of trees and construction in the Pakhro and Morgatti forest areas of the Corbett Tiger Reserve. The ED conducted raids on Harak Singh Rawat owing to his financial irregularities and illegal construction in Corbett National Park.

The FSI claimed that Harak allowed the illegal cutting of more than 6,000 trees in the Corbett Tiger Reserve for the Pakro tiger safari. FSI refers to the Forest Survey of India.

Harak came under serious allegations as the state minister of forest under the BJP government. He joined the Congress before the 2022 Uttarakhand assembly election after his dismissal from the state cabinet. Before joining Congress, Harak belonged to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, the BJP dismissed him from the party’s primary membership for six years for anti-party activities.