Former Haryana MLA arrested after scuffle with ED officials at Delhi hotel: Who is Dharam Singh Chhoker?

“Realising the threat of arrest, Chhoker and his bodyguard started running towards the exit. Agrawal chased and caught him after a long scuffle. In the process, Chhoker tried to hit and hurt the officers and the hotel staff. But he was nailed down and detained by Agrawal … While being taken to the ED office too, the former MLA made several attempts to get out of the car but could not succeed,” said an ED official.

Chhoker, 61, is a close aide of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The ED case pertains to alleged irregularities in the allotment of flats, houses, and plots by his real estate companies in Gurgaon. The former MLA and his firms allegedly amassed over Rs 616 crore from investors but failed to deliver the allotments.

#JUSTIN: CCTV footage: The ED has arrested Congress’s former Haryana MLA Dharam Singh Chhoker from a five-star hotel in connection with an alleged money laundering scam worth Rs 1,500 crore. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/MWBjqDdzmL

— Mahender Singh Manral (@mahendermanral) May 6, 2025

In March, the ED issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and attached about three acres of agricultural land, 2,487 sq m of commercial plots, and eight residential flats located in Delhi, Faridabad, and Panipat in connection with the case. Fixed and bank deposits worth Rs 96 lakh were also attached as part of the same order.

In March, the ED auctioned assets worth Rs 44.55 crore linked to Chhoker, his sons Vikas and Sikandar, and their company, Sai Aaina Farms Pvt Ltd. While Vikas is absconding, Sikandar is out on bail in the case. In 2024, the agency had attached the family’s assets worth Rs 36 crore in connection with the same probe.

A two-time former MLA, Chhoker won his first Assembly election in 2009 from Gujjar-dominated Samalkha on a ticket of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), a breakaway Congress faction led by former CM Bhajan Lal that later merged with the Congress.

When the HJC aligned with the BJP in 2014, he contested Samalkha on a Congress ticket, but lost. Chhoker was re-elected from Samalkha on a Congress ticket in 2019. Most recently, he unsuccessfully contested from Samalkha again last year.

In his most recent election affidavit filed, he declared agriculture as his primary source of income, mentioned just one criminal case pending against him involving charges of cheating and forgery, and showed his assets as worth over Rs 3.86 crore.

According to sources, Sikander runs a real estate business in Gurgaon. He is the Managing Director of the Mahira group of companies, seven projects of which are embroiled in controversies due to alleged irregularities. Of these, six are affordable housing projects.

In 2021, the ED and Income Tax departments conducted joint raids at Chhoker’s properties in Samalkha, Panipat, Hisar, Gurgaon and Chandigarh. In the raids, Sikander, his brother Vikas and 13 others were booked on charges of fraud in Gurgaon. According to the FIR registered at the time, the accused committed fraud in the pretext of developing an affordable housing project under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) on 10 acres of land in Gurgaon.

In another case, the Haryana Department of Town and Country Planning in July 2023 ordered the cancellation of the licence of Mahira Home Private Limited and the registration of a criminal case against the realtor for submitting forged building plans for a project. Following the order, a complaint was filed by Gurgaon’s District Town Planner (Enforcement) and an FIR was registered against the company, its directors, associated companies and its authorised signatory, for submitting forged and fabricated plans in 2022 to obtain its license, and repeating the forgery in 2023 for an additional licence.

In July 2023, the ED also found four luxury vehicles, jewellery worth Rs 14.5 lakh and Rs 4.5 lakh cash during raids on properties owned by Chhoker. Raids were conducted at Chhoker’s house in Samalkha, office and fuel station in Panipat, and properties in Hisar, Gurgaon and Chandigarh. Following the raids, the ED registered a PMLA case against Chhoker. In May 2024, a Gurgaon court denied him anticipatory bail in the case.

Days before the Assembly polls last October, the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the ED and the Haryana Police to arrest Chhoker if he failed to surrender within 24 hours. Though there was a warrant for his arrest, Chhoker filed his nomination papers and was actively campaigning in Haryana.