Enforcement Directorate notice to ‘Vadra-linked’ firm

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday issued a notice to a firm, allegedly linked to Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, as part of its investigations into an alleged land scam in Bikaner.

Sources said the notice has been issued to the firm, namely Skylight Hospitality, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The firm has been asked to submit its financial statements and other documents to the agency, they added. Earlier, Mr Vadra denied any wrongdoing even as Congress called the action sheer political vendetta.

The ED had on May 6 conducted searches at eight premises in Bikaner and nearby areas, belonging to accused Jay Prakash Bagadwa, Ranjeet Singh, Kishore Singh, Gugan Gir and certain government officials, including retired ones like Faqir Mohammed, Uma Charan, Deeparam and Mahavir Swamy, in connection with the case. The ED registered a money laundering case against certain real estate developers and Rajasthan government officials to pro-be the Bikaner land scam.