The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday temporarily sealed the premises of the Young Indian in the Congress-owned National Herald office in Delhi as part of the ongoing money laundering case and instructed that the “premises not be opened without prior permission from the agency”. The rest of the National Herald office in the Herald House building is open for use, the sources said.
The ED raided the newspaper’s Bahadurshah Zafar Marg office near ITO and 11 other locations on Tuesday as part of its money laundering probe in the National Herald-AJL-Young Indian deal, a week after the agency questioned Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi. The probe agency has already questioned her MP-son, Rahul Gandhi.
Here are the live updates:
• The probe agency said only the Young Indian (YI) office has been temporarily sealed as there was no one from their side to get the searches conducted. “The principal officer Mallikarjun Kharge came but left the premises without getting the searches conducted. Summons has been sent to the principal officer (Mallikarjun Kharge) to get the search concluded. As and when the authorized person presents himself for concluding the search, the seal will be lifted,” the ED said.
• Delhi Police has barricaded the roads near Congress headquarters at 24 Akbar Road to avoid any protest-like situation by the party workers and deployed additional force outside 10 Janpath, the residence of Sonia Gandhi. The barricades were later removed.
नई दिल्ली: कांग्रेस मुख्यालय को छावनी में तब्दील किया। pic.twitter.com/GalmkkJima
— INC TV (@INC_Television) August 3, 2022
• Taking to Twitter, the Congress slammed the central probe agency for sealing the office and deployment of police forces outside the party headquarters in Delhi. The party said, “The voice of truth will not be afraid of police guards…questions of inflation and unemployment will still be asked.”
सत्य की आवाज़ नहीं डरेगी पुलिसिया पहरों से।
गांधी के अनुयायी लड़ के जीतेंगे इन अंधेरों से।।नेशनल हेराल्ड का ऑफिस सील करना, कांग्रेस मुख्यालय को पुलिस पहरे में कैद करना तानाशाह की डर और बौखलाहट दोनों दिखाता है।
पर महंगाई और बेरोज़गारी के सवाल तो फिर भी पूछे जाएँगे।
— Congress (@INCIndia) August 3, 2022
• Reacting on ED’s action, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid told reporters that there is nothing in the case of money laundering investigation as there is “no money involved, so no question of laundering”. “I have come to my party office, if there is any information here I will get it. Everyday party workers, MPs are being stopped…you (media) are also stopped, you must not stop and keep doing your job,” he said. “The party headquarters is central to one’s political life and I have come here. We have said very clearly that there is nothing in the case of money laundering investigation as there is no money involved so no question of laundering,” Khurshid said.
• Addressing a presser soon after ED temporarily sealed the premises of the Young Indian, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Today the whole nation is watching. Akbar road, Janpath, and Tughalq lane have been barricaded.”
• Another Congress leader Ajay Maken said the Congress will continue with its protest scheduled on August 5 against inflation in the country. “Last week Congress issued circular on protests. We will continue with it. We will go to PM residence, President house, etc. Today we got a letter from DCP denying us permission to protest,” Maken said.
• Hundreds of Congress workers gathered outside the Herald House building and staged protests against the raid on Tuesday. Congress dubbed the ED raids as “vendetta politics” and said it will not be cowed by such actions and will continue to expose failures of the government. “The raids on Herald House, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg are a part of the continued attack against India’s principal opposition — Indian National Congress. We strongly condemn this vendetta politics against those who speak up against the Modi Government. You cannot silence us!,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet on Tuesday. Later, Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Kumar Bansal also visited the Herald House in the evening.
• Officials had said the searches were carried out under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to “gather additional evidence with regard to the trail of funds”.
• The National Herald newspaper is published by Associated Journals Ltd. (AJL) and its holding company is Young Indian. The National Herald is registered in the name of AJL.
(with inputs from PTI)
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