On fund trail, ED raids National Herald office

New Delhi, August 2

Days after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) questioned Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, the agency today conducted raids at the head office of the Congress-owned National Herald newspaper here and 11 other locations as part of its probe under criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Condemning the ED action, the Congress said it was nothing but “vendetta politics” and the ruling party had turned the agency into its “election department”. The BJP, however, claimed “law will take its own course”. The National Herald is published by Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), and its holding company is Young Indian—both owned by the Congress. The ED is probing a money laundering case against the AJL and Young Indian. ED officials said the searches were being carried out under the criminal sections of the PMLA to “gather additional evidence on the funds’ trail and are against the entities involved in the National Herald-linked transactions”. The raids come after the probe agency questioned Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her MP son Rahul at its headquarters here. The action is being undertaken in the light of fresh evidence obtained after the latest questioning of people in the case, the officials added. The office of a shell (dummy) company in Kolkata which is allegedly involved in the case, has also been covered in the raids.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “The raids are a part of the continued attack against India’s principal Opposition...” — TNS

Vendetta, says Cong

Congress says the action is nothing but political vendetta. The BJP has turned the ED into its puppet, it alleges.

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