Vyapam whistleblower Prashant Pandey's wife detained on hawala allegations, cops say it's not vendatta

Indore: A day after Vyapam scam whistleblower Prashant Pandey’s wife was briefly detained and Rs 9.96 lakh alleged hawala money was seized from her, the Madhya Pradesh police on Sunday denied Pandey’s charge that they had acted as part of vendetta. [caption id=“attachment_2346686” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  Representational image. Image courtesy: Vyapam website[/caption] “The law of the land treats all citizens equally, whether it is a whistleblower or any other person. If policemen indulge in wrongdoings, an FIR is registered against them and they face enquiries. If found guilty, they are dismissed from their services,” Additional Director General of Police Vipin Maheshwari told a hurriedly convened press conference in today evening. When asked about Pandey’s accusation about the police acting in vendetta against his wife Meghna at the behest of the state government, since he had blown the lid off the Vyapam scam by touching upon its different aspects, the police official advised, “He should come forward and co-operate in the investigation to ensure that the case is disposed of quickly”. Based on a tip-off from an informer about hawala transactions at Laxmi Motors, a private firm situated near the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the police kept a vigil and noticed Prashant’s wife Meghna, who works as a human resources manager at the firm, exiting her office with a bag yesterday, the police official said. Women police officers searched Meghna’s bag and found Rs 9.96 lakh in cash about which she couldn’t give a satisfactory explanation, after which it was seized under Section 102 of the Criminal Procedure Code and the local magistrate was informed about it, he said. The police official said that Meghna was allowed to go without being arrested and the possibility of any hawala transaction is being probed threadbare. The police had informed the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and a probe is on, he said. PTI