Priyanka takes swipe at ED over notice to firm linked with Vadra

Congress President Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday took a swipe at the Enforcement Directorate over leakage of its notice to a firm linked to her husband Robert Vadra in connection with alleged financial wrongdoings in a land deal.

"Apparently, we have received it (notice) at 4 o'clock today (Wednesday) but you received it before us," Priyanka told reporters here.

The ED on Tuesday issued notice to Skylight Hospitality, a firm linked to Robert Vadra, to seek some financial statements and other documents under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Priyanka Gandhi was referring to the fact that the ED's notice was reported in a number of newspapers on Wednesday before she herself got the notice.

The ED notice came after the central probe agency on May 5 carried out raids at eight locations in Bikaner and its nearby areas in Kolayat region.

The probe is related to the purchase of 275 bigha land allegedly by the company in the Kolayat area of the border town of Bikaner.

ED registered a criminal case of money laundering in this case last year on the basis of FIRs filed by the state police after the local tehsildar had made a complaint.

ED has not mentioned the name of Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, or any company linked to him in the FIR but it named some state government officials and some of the "land mafia".

While filing the case, it had also taken cognisance of reports that had referred to the firm linked to Vadra which had purchased land in Bikaner.

Vadra has denied any wrongdoing even as Congress had called the ED action "sheer political vendetta".

The ED suspects that huge amounts of money had been laundered in this case by people buying land at cheap rates through forged documents.

--IANS

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