Rahul Gandhi appears before ED: Congress leaders, MPs detained amidst protest

NEW DELHI, (ANI): Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, along with other top Congress party colleagues Adhir Ranjan Chaudhari and KC Venugopal were among those detained on Monday as party leader Rahul Gandhi arrived at the Enforcement Directorate office here today for questioning in the National Herald money laundering case.

Delhi Police on Monday detained Congress workers including Adhir Ranjan Chaudhari, KC Venugopal, Deepender Hooda and Jairam Ramesh among other MPs who joined a huge protest by Congress workers who shouted slogans against the central government. According to sources, Venugopal’s health is not well and he was taken to Tughlaq Road police station.

Deepender Hooda, Gehlot and other Congress leaders were detained and they were taken to Fatehpur police station in buses. Congress leaders Rajni Patil, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, L Hanumanthaiah and Su Thirunavukkarasar were detained at Mandir Marg Police Station.

Soon after they were detained, Rajya Sabha MPs Rajni Patil and L Hanumanthaiah said they will move a privilege motion in both Houses of Parliament against their undemocratic detention. Several Congress workers are protesting at various points near party headquarters.

On Sunday Delhi Police had cited “law and order situation” denied permission to the Congress protest march and had imposed prohibitory orders near the Congress headquarters. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi accompanied by his sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra arrived at the AICC headquarters here and marched towards the ED office.

Earlier today Congress workers staged a protest holding placards and amidst massive sloganeering in support of Rahul Gandhi. ‘Rahul Gandhi zindabad, zindabad’ song resonated at Congress party headquarters here. Addressing media persons earlier this morning Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that the party’s ‘Satyagraha’ march will continue despite the Delhi Police denying permission to the party to hold protests.

Slamming the Centre for denying permission to Congress to hold its “Satyagraha march” in the national capital, party general secretary Randeep Surjewala addressing media persons said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has imposed an “undeclared emergency” in the entire central Delhi area. “We will hold a peaceful protest march to the ED office under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. We are the protectors of the Constitution, we will not bow down or be scared. By deploying a large police force, it has been proven that the Modi government is shaken by Congress.”

Rahul Gandhi was summoned by the ED to join the investigation on June 13. He was earlier summoned to join the investigation but he was out of the country and later he was given a fresh date of June 13 to join the probe. On Friday the ED also issued a fresh summons to Sonia Gandhi asking her to appear on June 23 for questioning in connection with the National Herald money laundering case.

Congress has alleged that it is a “political vendetta” and the case has no grounds for investigation. The ED has earlier questioned senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Treasurer Pawan Bansal in April this year as part of its investigation.

The agency then recorded the statements of both the Congress leaders under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The National Herald is published by Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and owned by Young Indian Private Limited (YIL). While Kharge is the CEO of YIL, Bansal is the Managing Director of AJL. The ED is currently investigating the shareholding pattern and financial transactions as well as the role of party functionaries in the functioning of the AJL and YIL.

The YIL promoters include Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. (ANI)