Robert Vadra, the brother-in-law of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, is set to appear before Enforcement Directorate (ED) here for round two of questioning on Thursday. The ED sources have confirmed that he will appear again at 10:30 am.
A day earlier, Vadra was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for about five-and-a-half hours in its money laundering probe into alleged possession of illegal foreign assets, days after he was directed by a city court to appear before the central probe agency.
Vadra’s wife Priyanka Gandhi accompanied him in a white Toyota Land Cruiser and dropped him outside the ED’s office in Jamnagar House, a move seen as sending a political message to Congress’s opponents ahead of Lok Sabha polls.
‘All charges against him are wrong. We will cooperate with the agency 100 percent. He will available whenever he is called,’ Suman Jyoti Khaitan, his lawyer told the media persons waiting outside the ED office. Officials said Vadra has been called again Thursday.
When Priyanka’s husband dropping shortly, took charge as AICC general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh East, after her formal induction into the Congress party on 23 January. ‘He is my husband, he is my family and of course I support my family,’ Priyanka said in a show of support to Vadra, who returned from London earlier in the day.
At the All India Congress Committee headquarters, Priyanka was asked by newsmen whether she was sending any message by dropping her husband at the ED office.
Vadra had sent an emotional message to her on the day of Priyanka’s appointment, ‘Congratulations P- for being always by your side in every phase of your life. Give it your best,’ in a Facebook post-Vadra said.
After wading through a posse of assembled media persons, Vadra entered the ED office at around 3:47 pm; minutes after a team of his lawyers reached the premises. He then signed the attendance register before being taken in for questioning.
Vadra has denied allegations of possessing illegal foreign assets and termed them a political witch hunt against him.