Keeping the heat on the Congress, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday “temporarily” sealed the premises of Young Indian (YI), a not-for-profit private limited company, in the Congress-owned National Herald newspaper office in Delhi as part of a related money laundering probe.
Following the development, the roads to Congress party headquarters and to the residences of party president Sonia and her son Rahul Gandhi were blocked and heavy deployment of police personnel was done there, prompting the Congress to claim the party was “under siege”. However, the barricades were later removed.
Sonia and Rahul are among the promoters and majority shareholders in Young Indian with both of them having 38 per cent shareholding in the company. Officials said the temporary seal had been put in order to “preserve the evidence” which could not be collected as authorised representatives of Young Indian were not present during the searches on Tuesday.
The rest of the premises of the National Herald office are open for use, they said.
The notice pasted under signature of the ED Investigating Officer of the rank of Assistant Director outside the YI office space said it cannot be opened “without prior permission” from the agency. The ED team had emailed the principal officer/in-charge of the office of the private limited company to open the premises for carrying out searches but the response was awaited, they said.
On Tuesday, the ED had searched a dozen locations, including the National Herald office at the Herald House at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg near ITO here, as part of its money laundering probe in the National Herald-Associated Journal Limited-Young Indian deal.
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.
The road to AICC headquarters here was temporarily blocked. The police said it was done to avoid any untoward situation. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh shared a video showing heavy police presence outside the AICC headquarters here and the road sealed for traffic.
“The Delhi Police blocking the road to AICC headquarters has become a norm rather than an exception! Why have they just done so is mysterious...,” Ramesh tweeted.
“The Congress is under siege. The Delhi Police has surrounded our HQ and homes of INC president and former president. This is the worst form of vendetta politics. We will not submit! We will not be silenced! We will continue to raise our voice against injustices and failures of Modi Sarkar!,” he said in another tweet.
A senior Delhi police officer said, “We have received inputs from our special branch that some protesters might gather at the Congress office situated on Akbar Road. So, as a preventive measure, we have put barricades and deputed our personnel to avoid any untoward situation.”
In a tweet in Hindi, the Congress said, “The voice of truth will not be afraid of police guards. Gandhis’ followers will fight and win from this darkness.”
Sealing the office of the National Herald, bringing the Congress headquarters under police guards show both the “fear and frustration of the dictator”, the party said, adding that questions of inflation and unemployment will still be asked.
Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid, while entering the AICC headquarters, 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. Every day party workers, MPs are being stopped...You (media) are also stopped, you must not stop and keep doing your job,” he told reporters.
“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.
Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge also raised the issue in the Upper House and alleged that the police have barricaded the residence of the Congress president, former Congress president and the party headquarters.
He was not allowed to raise the issue by the chair, but he said if he will not raise the issue in the House, where else should he go.
On Tuesday, the ED raided the head office of the National Herald newspaper here and 11 other locations as part of its probe.
The ED had earlier questioned Sonia and her son Rahul in the case.
Kharge and another senior Congress leader Pawan Bansal were also questioned by the ED in April in this case.