Money laundering probe: ED raids ex-DPIIT secretary Ramesh Abhishek
New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday raided the premises of retired IAS officer and former Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) secretary Ramesh Abhishek as part of a disproportionate assets linked money laundering probe against him, official sources said.
The ED case stems from a recent CBI FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the 1982-batch officer. He was raided by the CBI in February.
Abhishek retired in 2019 from the DPIIT (erstwhile Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion).
The ED is searching the premises of Abhishek as part of a money laundering investigation, the sources said.
The CBI had alleged in its FIR that Abhishek enriched himself "illicitly" after retirement by receiving "huge amounts" as consultation fee from private companies whose matters he had dealt while in service.
The CBI and ED have also booked his daughter Vanessa.
The retired officer also held the post of chairman, Forward Markets Commission, and the CBI case was booked against him on a reference from anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal.
The Lokpal has alleged that the father-daughter duo received big amounts as professional fee from various entities and organisations with whom the former IAS officer had official dealings as the secretary or the chairman.
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Death toll in Mundathikode fireworks explosion rises to 16
Thrissur (Kerala) (PTI): One more person who had been hospitalised following the Mundathikode fireworks explosion died at Thrissur Medical College on Sunday, police said.
With this, the death toll in the incident has risen to 16.
According to Thrissur Medical College police, the deceased has been identified as Unnikrishnan from Edappal, who was among the 38 persons present at the fireworks manufacturing unit in Mundathikode where the explosions occurred on April 21.
Police said Unnikrishnan had suffered over 80 per cent burns and had remained in critical condition.
The condition of the two other injured persons remains critical, police said.
Of the 38 persons present at the site, 16 have died, while four remain missing.
The fireworks were being manufactured for Thiruvambady Devaswom as part of the Thrissur Pooram festivities.
The licensee of the unit had also suffered burn injuries and had died earlier.
