Enforcement Directorate raids Robert Vadra's associates at three locations in New Delhi, says his lawyer

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday conducted raids at the premises of some close associates of Robert Vadra, son-in-law of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, according to his lawyer Suman Jyoti Khaitan. Vadra, a businessman, is being investigated by the ED in connection with a land deal in Bikaner in Rajasthan. Khaitan claimed that the ED officials raided “close associates” and business partners of Vadra in Delhi without even showing any search warrants. They locked up the premises from inside and are not allowing any access to those inside, even to the lawyers, he alleged. “Is this rule of law?…Evidence has been fabricated,” he alleged while speaking to reporters. He said a newspaper had reported that that three summons had been served on Vadra by the ED but “we have received none.” On Wednesday,  just days after the ED summoned Vadra in connection with a money-laundering probe in a land scam case, he termed it a “political witch-hunt” and alleged that government departments were operating on an “agenda to besmirch” his reputation. [caption id=“attachment_3963285” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Robert Vadra. PTI[/caption] The ED summoned Vadra in connection with its money laundering probe in a land scam case in Rajasthan’s border city of Bikaner, officials  said last last week. “The political witch-hunt carries on unceasingly with government departments clearly operating on an agenda to besmirch my dignity and reputation,” he alleged in a Facebook post. Vadra said he had cooperated fully with the government departments for the last four-and-a-half years and would continue to do so. “On the last occasion, they summoned me for documents, my lawyer sat there for three hours and handed over an exhaustive set of documents, yet again. It is indeed strange that I was asked for the very same documents once again even though they had already been furnished over the last few years,” he said. Vadra also alleged that he was sent another summon within 24 hours without the agency even perusing the latest set of 600 documents supplied to it. “My lawyer has been compelled to appear in Jaipur once more today (no surprise that this is just two days before the polling in Rajasthan). The authorities know perfectly well that there is no case to proceed against me,” he said. Vadra claimed that the authorities wanted to create another “media circus” to distract the public. “This is nothing but a politically motivated, malicious and baseless prosecution. The truth will prevail some day. It always does,” he added. The central probe agency had registered a criminal case in connection with the land deal in 2015, taking cognisance of a clutch of FIRs and chargesheets filed by the Rajasthan Police after the local tehsildar of Bikaner complained about alleged forgery in the allotment of land in the area, considered sensitive due to its proximity to the India-Pakistan border. With inputs from agencies