Bank Fraud: ED attaches assets worth over Rs 9,000 crore in Sterling Biotech PMLA case
New Delhi: The ED has attached assets worth over Rs 9,000 crore in connection with its money laundering probe against Gujarat-based pharmaceutical firm Sterling Biotech, which is allegedly involved in a multi-crore bank fraud case, officials said Wednesday.
The officials said a provisional order of attachment was issued by the central probe agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The value of the attached properties, including those overseas, is stated to be at Rs 9,778 crore.
It is alleged that the company took loans of over Rs 5,000 crore from a consortium led by Andhra Bank, which had turned into non-performing assets.The total volume of the alleged loan defraud is pegged at Rs 8,100 crore.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a criminal case in the alleged bank fraud scam based on a Central Bureau of Investigation FIR and charge sheet.
The promoters of the firm, alleged to be the main conspirators of the bank fraud, are the Sandesara brothers of Vadodara and they are absconding.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
