The Enforcement Directorate has issued a summons to Vaibhav Gehlot, the son of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, requesting his presence for questioning in a case pertaining to the suspected violation of foreign exchange regulations.
Vaibhav Gehlot has been instructed to appear before the federal agency either at their office in Jaipur or in New Delhi on the upcoming Friday, reportedly.
The summons are associated with the recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids conducted on Triton Hotels & Resorts Pvt. Ltd., a hospitality group based in Rajasthan, as well as Vardha Enterprises Pvt. Ltd. and their respective directors and promoters, including Shiv Shankar Sharma and Rattan Kant Sharma, among others.
In August, the ED conducted extensive searches on the group and its promoters for a period of three days in various locations, including Jaipur, Udaipur, Mumbai, and Delhi.
The ED is reportedly investigating Rattan Kant Sharma's purported connections with Vaibhav Gehlot, and it is anticipated that they will interrogate him and record his statement under the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
Following these searches, the ED confiscated unaccounted cash amounting to Rs 1.2 crore.
ED raids Rajasthan PCC chief in money laundering case
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted searches at the residences of Govind Singh Dotasra, the Rajasthan Congress president, and the party's candidate for the Mahua assembly seat. These actions are part of a money laundering probe related to the alleged leak of examination papers in the state gearing up for elections.
The searches encompassed locations in Sikar and Jaipur, including the residences of Dotasra, a former school education minister, as well as the residence of Omprakash Hudla, the party's candidate for the Mahua assembly seat in Dausa, among others.
The Enforcement Directorate teams were accompanied by an armed escort provided by the central paramilitary force CRPF.
Soon after the searches commenced, Dotsara wrote "Satyameva Jayate" on X.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot too posted a message confirming the raids on Dotasra and about a ED summon to his son Vaibhav Gehlot, saying the ED raids are being done everyday in the state "as the BJP does not want that Congress party's guarantees reach the women, farmers and the poor."
Former Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) member Babulal Katara and two other people identified as Anil Kumar Meena and Bhupendra Saran were arrested by the ED in this case. It had first raided multiple locations in Rajasthan as part of this investigation in June.
The money laundering case stems from FIRs filed by the Rajasthan Police against the accused.
The accused, "in connivance with each other leaked the question paper of general knowledge of senior teacher grade II competitive examination, 2022 which was scheduled to be conducted by RPSC (Rajasthan Public Service Commission) on 21.12.2022, 22.12.2022 and 24.12.2022 and provided it to appearing candidates for the consideration amount of Rs 8-10 lakh per candidate," the ED had said.
