Robert Vadra and mother Maureen to face ED questioning in Bikaner land case; Priyanka Gandhi joins family in Jaipur, Congress puts up support posters: LIVE updates

Robert Vadra and wife Priyanka Gandhi reach ED office for questioning.

Priyanka Gandhi leaves ED office after dropping off husband Robert Vadra and mother-in-law Maureen Vadra

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra leaves from her hotel for Jaipur airport to travel to Delhi

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reaches at Jaipur Airport after dropping off Robert Vadra and mother at the ED. She is reported to be heading back to the National Capital for Congress meetings.

Robert Vadra leaves ED Jaipur office after day-long questioning: 

Robert Vadra's lawyer Suman Khaitan confirms that Robert Vadra has been called in for questioning again at 10:30 AM on Wednesday

Posters featuring Robert Vadra along with wife and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and brother-in-law, party president Rahul Gandhi displayed outside hotel where Vadra and family are staying in Jaipur.

Ahead of appearing before the ED, Robert Vadra wrote a Facebook post. 

Read here:

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi's husband Robert Vadra and his mother Maureen Vadra are all set to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Jaipur on Tuesday in connection with a money laundering case related to an alleged land scam in Bikaner, the state's border town.

Ahead of their appearance, the police have tightened the security in and around the ED office. The duo landed at Jaipur airport on Monday noon. Priyanka Gandhi also joined the family on Jaipur after her roadshow in Lucknow.

This will be the fourth time that Vadra appears before the agency. On last three occasions, he appeared before the ED in Delhi in connection with a money laundering probe against him for his alleged role in procuring assets abroad in an alleged illegal manner.

READ: Exclusive | Plots In Bikaner Belonging To The Poor, Purposed For Military Range Were Grabbed By Robert Vadra

Officials said the investigating officer (IO) of the case will record the statement of Vadra and his mother under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

On January 22 this year, the Rajasthan High Court's Jodhpur bench had directed Vadra, his mother Maureen, and his partners in Skylight Hospitality to appear before the ED on February 12 to respond to the allegations of money laundering involving his firm.

In November 2018, the ED had for the third time issued summons to Vadra and his mother, a partner in the firm, for questioning but none of them appeared. Instead, they moved the High Court seeking a 'no coercive action' order and stay of their arrest.

A money laundering case was registered by the ED in September 2015, claiming that Skylight Hospitality had acquired land in Kolayat village of Bikaner, which was meant for the rehabilitation of the poor villagers.

It was alleged that Vadra bought 69.55 hectares of land at a cheaper rate and then sold the land to Allegheny Finlease for Rs 5.15 crore through illegal transactions.

It is worth mentioning that in Bikaner land scam fraudsters in collusion with the state government officials got allotted land in the name of fictitious individuals, though the land was actually meant for the people who were displaced due to the creation of Mahajan Field Firing range.

The fraudsters created forged allotment letters purportedly issued by the Colonisation Department of the state government and 1,422 'bighas' of land was recorded in revenue record in the name of fictitious allottees without due verification of the allotment letters from the concerned department.

READ: After 6-hour Marathon Grilling, Robert Vadra Asked To Appear Before ED Again; Sources Say He Was Non-cooperative

(With agency inputs)