Vadra benami deal: ED issues notice to arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari

New Delhi: The probe into the financial dealings of arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari took a new turn on Wednesday with the Enforcement Directorate serving him notice seeking bank accounts and details of his properties. [caption id=“attachment_2811752” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The ED action has come even as the IT has sought information from some countries about the properties purchased by him, one of which is said to have been owned and later sold by Robert Vadra in London allegedly facilitated by Bhandari. PTI[/caption] The ED action has come even as the Income Tax has sought information from some countries about the properties purchased by him, one of which is said to have been owned and later sold by Robert Vadra in London allegedly facilitated by Bhandari. Bhandari is also likely to face a case under the Officials Secrets Act as Income Tax department had allegedly recovered minutes of the meeting of Defence Acquisition from his residence during raids in the last week of April this year. The ED has been shared with all the documents and information by the Income Tax department about Bhandari. Efforts to reach Bhandari did not fructify as he neither replied to phone calls or messages sent on his mobile telephone. The Enforcement Directorate may file a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) once the Defence Ministry gives its opinion about the classification of defence documents is recovered and a case under OSA is registered against him. Income Tax returns of Bhandari and his set of companies besides Vadra’s companies are being examined afresh by the tax sleuths before raising a tax demand on him. In the meantime, requests have been sent to various countries where Bhandari had opened a web of companies to share the bank information details, the sources said.