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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Kannur(Kerala) (PTI): Govindachamy, a notorious convict serving life term in the sensational 2011 Soumya murder case, was on Saturday shifted to the Viyyur central jail in Thrissur district of Kerala, a day after he broke out of Kannur prison and was caught several hours later.
The order to shift Govindachamy alias Govindaswamy (41), who is missing his left hand, to Viyyur came late Friday night, but it was decided to move him in the morning, police said.
He was taken to Thrissur early Saturday morning amidst heavy security, it said.
Govindachamy broke out of Kannur Central Jail on Friday between 4.15 am and 6.30 am and was caught from within the city limits by around 9.30 am.
A case was registered in connection with his jailbreak and he was produced before a judicial magistrate and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.
Following the jailbreak, three prison officers of Kannur Central Jail were suspended with immediate effect, amidst allegations from various quarters that the convict had inside help in his escape.
The opposition Congress had slammed the government over the incident. It termed the government "incompetent" and alleged that "inside help" was provided for the jailbreak. It also demanded a CBI probe into the incident.
Soumya, a 23-year-old woman from Manjakkad near Shornur, was raped and murdered allegedly by Govindachamy while travelling on a passenger train from Ernakulam to Shornur on 1 February 2011. Govindachamy was convicted in this case.