Robert Vadra appears before Enforcement Directorate

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday questioned Robert Vadra, brother-in-law of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, in connection with a money laundering case linked to purchase of alleged illegal assets abroad. He may appear before the agency on Friday also.

Sources said that Mr Vadra was questioned for several hours on Thursday. His wife Priyanka Gandhi once again accompanied Mr Vadra to the ED office. However, Ms Priyanka left the ED office after dropping her husband off. Before reaching the ED office, Mr Vadra tweeted, “I maintain my belief in the Indian judiciary. I have and will adhere to all summons/norms of government agencies. I have deposed 11 times with questioning of approx 70 hours. In future also, I will cooperate, till my name is cleared of all false allegations and accusations.”

Sources further said that he was questioned in connection with his London properties and his alleged association with arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari.

The ED case against Robert Vadra relates to allegations of money laundering in the purchase of a London-based property located at 12, Bryanston Square worth 1.9 million GBP (British pounds), which is allegedly owned by him.

It is alleged that Sanjay Bhandari received kickbacks in a 2009-petroleum deal and a 2010-defence deal that was used to buy several properties in London worth 12 million pounds on behalf of Robert Vadra.

The probe agency has already filed an application before the Delhi high court in which they have sought cancellation of anticipatory bail granted to Robert Vadra by the lower court. The high court will hear the matter on July 17 when Robert

Vadra and his close associate Manoj Arora will also reply to the notice issued against them by the court.  

The ED maintains that they want custodial interrogation of Robert Vadra for which they want to arrest him.

Earlier, Robert Vadra had been questioned nine times by the ED in Delhi and twice in Jaipur. Earlier also, Mr Vadra denied the allegations of possessing illegal foreign assets and termed them a political witch-hunt against him. He said he was being “hounded and harassed” to subserve political ends.