The Enforcement Directorate has instructed that Young Indian office on National Herald premises in Delhi should not be opened without prior permission from it
ED seals National Herald office. PTI
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday sealed Congress party-owned Young Indian office in National Herald premises in ITO, New Delhi. The probe agency has instructed that the premises should not be opened without prior permission from it.
The sealing of Young Indian office in Herald House in Delhi comes a day after ED carried out extensive raids there and 11 other locations as part of its ongoing money laundering investigation.
The searches were carried out under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to “gather additional evidence with regard to the trail of funds and they are against those entities who were involved in the National Herald-linked transactions”
Newspaper – National Herald – is owned by Young Indian Limited, the company by Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi.
National Herald office at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in Central Delhi’s ITO is registered in the name of Associated Journals Ltd which publishes the newspaper.
Searches were carried out by the ED in light of fresh evidence obtained by the agency after the latest questioning of various people, in this case, officials said.
The probe agency has recently quizzed Sonia Gandhi and Congress MP son Rahul Gandhi apart from some other Congress politicians in connection with this case.
Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have been accused of misusing Congress’ funds to acquire valuable real estate through a convoluted financial deal. The Gandhis have denied the allegations.
Last week, ED questioned Sonia Gandhi for three days in connection with the National Herald case. The Congress president was quizzed for over 11 hours over three days during which she had to answered around 100 questions. The first round of questioning took place on 21 July, while the second and third rounds took place on 26 and 27 July.
Earlier in July, the ED, questioned Rahul Gandhi for around 50 hours over five days in the case.
Meanwhile, Congress today alleged that the ED has become a “tool” in the hands of the Centre to “destroy” Opposition parties.
Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged that the party was not being allowed to raise the issue of alleged “misuse” of the ED in Parliament.
Jawaharlal Nehru along with other freedom fighters had in 1938 founded National Herald newspaper which was meant to voice the concerns of the liberal brigade in the Indian National Congress. However, the newspaper became a mouthpiece of the Congress after Independence.
With inputs from agencies
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