ED questions Robert Vadra in Haryana land deal case

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) on Tuesday questioned businessman Robert Vadra, in a Haryana land deal-linked money laundering case, official sources said.

The probe against Vadra, Husband of Congress MP from Wayanad, Kerala Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, is linked to a land deal in Haryana’s Shikohpur.

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Terming the probe agency’s move to summon him as ‘political vendetta’, Vadra said he has spent hours with the ED earlier during questioning, shared thousands of pages but still the agency has been racking up cases against him.

“I am not going to get intimidated neither by this government nor by any agency. I am going to answer all their questions,” the businessman said to a news agency.

Speaking to reporters on the way to the ED office, he said, “This is nothing but political vendetta. Whenever I speak for minorities they try to stop me, crush us, they try to stop Rahul (Gandhi) in Parliament too. This is misuse of agencies and this is political vendetta. I will cooperate with them like in the past, he added.

Moreover, Vadra claimed that he submitted more than 20,000 documents to the agency in 2019, too. “23,000 documents were submitted in 2019. The case that they are asking me about is a 20-year-old case. This is politically motivated. We abide by all the rules and regulations when we do any transaction. The ruling government always misuses the agency. They can ask me as many questions. I have nothing to hide. All is good,” he added.

Vadra was first summoned in this case on April 8 but he did not depose and sought a fresh date, the agency sources said.

The probe is about a land deal of February 2008 where a company linked to Vadra– Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd– purchased a piece of 3.5 acre land in Shikohpur in Gurugram from a firm named Onkareshwar Properties at a price of Rs 7.5 crore.

It is alleged that the mutation of this land was done within hours. The Haryana Police had filed a case in this deal in 2018.