Idukki (Kerala) (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi interacted with women tea pluckers at an estate in Peerumade here on Saturday.

The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, on his way to board a helicopter in the morning, noticed a group of women plucking tea leaves at the Glenmary estate and asked his convoy to stop before approaching them for an interaction.

Accompanied by Congress MPs K C Venugopal and Dean Kuriakose, Gandhi spoke to the workers and enquired about their wages and the tea plucking process.

The women workers explained to the Congress leader the nature of their work and showed him how the tea-plucking machine is used.

After the interaction, Gandhi took photographs with the workers before leaving the place.

Gandhi had arrived at Marian College in Kuttikkanam to interact with students on Friday.

He had stayed at a resort in Peerumade on Friday night and left for Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday morning to attend various events.

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Chandigarh (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Monday conducted searches at multiple locations in Punjab as part of a money laundering probe against former state police DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar and entities linked to him, officials said.

They said about 11 premises in Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Patiala, Nabha and Jalandhar linked to the accused, his associates and suspected benamidars (the owner in whose name a benami property is held) are being covered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case registered against Bhullar on allegations that he sought illegal gratification through a middleman for settlement of a criminal case, along with detection of assets disproportionate to known sources of income.

The searches aim to trace further proceeds of the alleged crime, identify benami assets and gather evidence related to money laundering, ED officials said.

Bhullar, who was serving as the deputy inspector general (DIG) of police (Ropar Range), was arrested by the CBI in October 2025 after a scrap dealer alleged that bribe was demanded from him through an intermediary to settle a case.