Surat BJP leader held in PMLA case

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 27

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today said it had arrested a Surat-based BJP leader under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in a case linked to alleged irregularities and fudging of circulation figures of his two dailies published in Gujarati and English.

The central financial enforcement agency, in an official statement, said, PVS Sarma, director of Sanket Media Private Limited, was arrested on Thursday under various provisions of the PMLA in a case “related to cheating and forgery”. A court in Ahmedabad has granted his custody to the ED till December 2, it added.

The ED said it booked Sarma, his media company and others after studying a Gujarat Police FIR that was filed against him by the Income Tax Department. Sanket Media Private Limited, it said, prints and publishes “Satyam Times” newspaper in Gujarati and English.

According to the ED statement the probe found that “though the circulation of the newspapers was shown at 23,500 and 6,000-6,300 copies daily for the Gujarati and English editions, respectively, actual circulation was only around 300-600 and 0-290”.