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‘I am not running away’: Robert Vadra on ED raids
The ED carried out raids and searches on Robert Vadra’s employees and associates on Friday in connection with its probe into alleged “commissions received by some suspects in defence deals” and illegal assets stashed abroad.
Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, said on Wednesday that charges of corruption made against him are “totally false and politically motivated.” The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had carried out searches on his employees and associates last Friday.
“Charges against me are totally false and politically motivated. We have replied to every notice. But my family is under stress, my mother is unwell, my premises were ransacked and locks broken. Everything should be done legally, we have always been cooperating,” Vadra said, reports news agency ANI.
“I will not allow my name to be used for political blackmail and have always maintained that we will cooperate, but the process should be fair and legal. I am not running away or going to live in some other country,” he said.
The ED carried out raids and searches on Friday in connection with its probe into alleged “commissions received by some suspects in defence deals” and alleged illegal assets stashed abroad. The agency had said it was conducting investigations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in cases related to ownership of undisclosed assets abroad.
“As part of these investigations, the directorate has carried out search operations on 7 December 2018 under PMLA at a number of premises in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru by issue of search warrants under Section 17 of PMLA,” it said in a statement without naming anyone.
On Friday, the Congress had alleged that the raids and searches were carried out without first information reports being filed or search warrants being issued and accused the government of “letting loose a criminal conspiracy to denigrate and malign” Vadra “to settle personal and political scores”.
The raids coincided with the final phase of polling covering Telangana and Rajasthan in the final round of state assembly elections in five states.
