Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Thursday accused the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of levelling “frivolous” allegations against him in a money laundering case.
Calling the ED allegations an attempt at “character assassination”, Khaira, who had joined the Congress three weeks ago, said he completely rejects and debunks all charges of financial irregularities. In March, the ED had carried out raids on the premises of Khaira and his family members in a money laundering probe linked to the 2015 Fazilka drugs smuggling case and fake passport racket.
The agency has alleged that Khaira is an associate of drug case convicts and fake passport racketeers. The two-time MLA’s statement was in response to the ED notices summoning fashion designers Ritu Kumar, Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Manish Malhotra, from whom Khaira had purchased clothes for the wedding of his daughter.
Khaira said these payments, which are nominal, were made in 2015-16. He said he had purchased three wedding dresses for his daughter and his family and these ranged from ₹7 to ₹8 lakh in total. The source of the money paid to the fashion designers was his overdraft account in a bank in Jalandhar, he added in a statement.
The MLA alleged that attempts were being made by the ED to malign him by repeating the same old charges of fake passports and the NDPS case.
Khaira had won the 2017 election as candidate of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). He rebelled against the AAP leadership two-and-a-half years ago, floated his separate party and then rejoined the Congress.
{{/usCountry}}Khaira had won the 2017 election as candidate of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). He rebelled against the AAP leadership two-and-a-half years ago, floated his separate party and then rejoined the Congress.
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