NEW DELHI: Hundreds of Congress workers were detained while police blocked several roads in Central Delhi on Monday ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s appearance before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the National Herald case.
Rahul Gandhi, along with Congress workers, planned to march to the ED office from the Congress headquarters.
Though the police had denied permission to the party for their planned march, the cops are not leaving anything to chance. Heavy police deployment was made in Central Delhi and all entries and exits from the Congress office were blocked.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said, “Modi government has imposed an undeclared emergency in the whole Central Delhi area. Hundreds of barricades have come up and thousands of Congress workers have been arrested overnight. The process is still going on. Thousands of police personnel have been deployed. Why? Is there any threat to the Modi government?”
Rahul Gandhi has been summoned by the ED to appear before it on June 13. He was earlier asked to appear on June 2 but citing his abroad visit he requested another date.
Meanwhile, Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi was summoned on June 8, but she could not attend it as she is down with Covid.
On Sunday, Sonia Gandhi was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram hospital for some Covid-related issues. She is stable and under observation.
Slamming the government, Surjewala said, “Rahul Gandhi will also march to ED. The Prime Minister may need a bullet proof car but Rahul Gandhi can walk one km like any other citizen of the country. This is our Dharma.”
The Congress spokesperson also said that out of Rs 90 crore, Rs 67 crore was paid for salaries and VRS of people working with the National Herald. Unlike the Modi government, we have not sold the assets of the country in the last 70 years. Still today National Herald is owned by AJL (Assosictaed Journals Limited), Surjewala said.
“We will not fear and will fight for the truth. Our Satyagrah march with Rahul Gandhi will go on,” Surjewala added.
The ED registered a fresh case about nine months ago after a trial court in Delhi took cognisance of an Income Tax Department probe carried out on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by former BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, in 2013.
Swamy claimed that Young Indian Limited (YIL) “took over” the assets of the defunct print media outlet in a “malicious” manner to gain profit and assets worth over Rs 2,000 crore. The BJP leader also alleged that YIL had paid Rs 50 lakh to obtain the rights to recover Rs 90.25 crore which AJL owed the Congress party.
The amount was given as a loan to start the newspaper. He also alleged that the loan given to AJL was “illegal”, as it had been taken from party funds.
In 2014, the ED initiated a probe to see if there was any money laundering in the case.
It is pertinent to note that in 2020, the ED had attached one of the most prime properties in Mumbai’s Bandra under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The said property, with market value to the tune of hundreds of crores of rupees, was illegally allotted to AJL.