Robert Vadra reaches ED Jaipur office for second round of questioning

Robert Vadra reaches ED Jaipur office for second round of questioning

Vadra was questioned by the probe agency for nearly nine hours Tuesday where his mother Maureen was also interrogated for some time.

Robert Vadra reached the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in Jaipur Wednesday for second round of questioning into an alleged land scam case in Rajasthan's Bikaner district. The questioning resumed at 10:30 am today when Vadra entered ED's office amid tight security.

He was questioned for nearly nine hours Tuesday where his mother Maureen was also interrogated for some time. Congress general secretary and his wife Priyanka Gandhi dropped Vadra and his mother to the agency's office in Jaipur.

"The interrogation lasted for nearly nine hours. He has given answers to the questions from the ED officers. He will once again appear before the ED zonal office in Jaipur at 10.30 am," Vadra's lawyer Suman Jyoti Khaitan told reporters. Vadra's lawyers also said that his mother will not be called for further questioning on account of her ill health but she has assured full cooperation with the agency in the proble.

Congress workers shouted slogans supporting Priyanka Gandhi when he arrived for interrogation in the morning on Tuesday. The workers hailed Priyanka Gandhi while calling 'Modi a thief', and shouting 'Chowkidar Chor Hai'. They also held banners which read "Jan Jan ki hai yehi pukar, Rahul ji-Priyanka ji abki baar,".

Pouring his emotions on Facebook, Vadra accused the Modi government of being "Vindictive" and questioned the motive of the dispensation in harassing him and his mother ahead of Lok Sabha elections. He called it a political gimmick.

"So here we are my 75-year-old mother and me in Jaipur to depose in front of the Enforcement Directorate. Not understanding the lows of this vindictive government to be harassing a senior citizen, who the world knows has lost her daughter in a car crash, her ailing son to diabetes, and her husband as well," he posted.

Vadra had failed to appear before ED on three occasions in the Bikaner case. He and his mother were asked by the Rajasthan High Court to cooperate with the probe agency after they approached it seeking directions that no forceful action is taken against them by ED.

Prior to Jaipur, he was questioned by ED for three days in Delhi in different charges related to money laundering and alleged property purchase in London and UAE.

ED in 2015 had registered a money laundering case against Sky Light Hospitality owned by Vadra. The company had bought land in Kolayat, Bikaner at dirt cheap prices and sold it to Allegenery Finlease for Rs 5.15 crore allegedly. The land was meant for rehabilitating poor villagers but was bought by Vadra through illegal transactions. ED also claimed that Allengenery Finlease was a fictitious company and had no real business.