ED questions Robert Vadra for 5 hours in Sanjay Bhandari-linked PMLA case
New Delhi, Jul 14 (PTI): Robert Vadra, the businessman husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, was on Monday questioned for about five hours by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari and some others, official sources said.
The 56-year-old Vadra arrived at the federal probe agency's office located in central Delhi after 11 am. He was accompanied by Priyanka Gandhi, MP from Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha seat. The session ended shortly after 5 pm, during which Vadra once went out during lunch hour.
The businessman's statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.
They said he may be called again for questioning as he allegedly "failed" to answer certain questions regarding his financial links with Bhandari and his family members.
He was called by the agency twice last month for questioning in this case, but he sought deferment of his summons as he reported being unwell during the first summons and later had to travel abroad after obtaining approval from a local court.
Vadra is being investigated by the agency in three different money laundering cases, including two pertaining to alleged irregularities in land deals.
He was questioned by the ED in April for three consecutive days in a case linked to alleged irregularities in a 2008 Haryana land deal case. The businessman is also being investigated by the anti-money laundering agency in a case related to alleged financial irregularities in a land deal in Rajasthan's Bikaner.
The case linked to Vadra and Bhandari pertains to the ED findings reported in a chargesheet in 2023, alleging Bhandari "acquired" the 12, Bryanston Square house located in London in 2009 and got it renovated "as per the directions of Vadra and the funds for renovation were provided by Robert Vadra."
Vadra has denied that he owns any London property directly or indirectly. Terming these charges as a political witch hunt against him, he said that he was being "hounded and harassed" to subserve political ends.
The ED is expected to file a fresh chargesheet in the Bhandari case following the recording of Vadra's statement.
The 63-year-old Bhandari fled to London in 2016, soon after the Income Tax department raided him in Delhi. He was recently declared a fugitive economic offender by a Delhi court, paving the way for confiscation of his properties worth crores of rupees.
A UK court, sometime back, refused the Indian government's application seeking permission to appeal in Britain's Supreme Court against the discharge of Bhandari in an extradition case against him, virtually ruling out chances of his being brought to the country to face the law.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
