ED raids alleged Robert Vadra associate in Bikaner land scam case

NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday searched the Faridabad premises of a person allegedly linked to Robert Vadra in connection with its money laundering probe in a land scam case in Bikaner, officials said. ED sleuths began searching Mahesh Nagar's premises in Faridabad, bordering the national capital, from early morning, the officials said. Nagar is said to be associated with Ms Skylight Hospitality Private Limited, a firm with alleged links to Congress president Rahul Gandhi's brother-in-law Vadra. In December last year, the agency had arrested Ashok Kumar, a close associate of Nagar, and another person, Jaiprakash Bagarwa. The agency had searched the premises of both Kumar and Nagar in April last year. The "authorised representative" in four cases of land purchase in Rajasthan's border town Bikaner was Nagar. Kumar, the agency alleged, purchased land in the same area using the "power of attorney" of others. The ED probe in the case is related to the purchase of 275 bigha land allegedly by the company in Bikaner's Kolayat area a few years back. The ED had also attached assets worth Rs 1.18 crore of government officials and others in connection with the case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). It had registered a criminal case under the PMLA in this matter in 2015, taking cognisance of FIRs filed by the state police after the local tehsildar complained about alleged forgery. The agency, in this case, had also issued notices to the firm linked to Vadra and obtained certain documents from it. However, the ED has not mentioned Vadra's name in its FIR filed under the PMLA. The FIR names some Rajasthan government officials and the "land mafia". Vadra had denied any wrongdoing and the Congress called the action "sheer political vendetta".