Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Sept.27: Agrasen Gehlot, the elder brother of Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Delhi today in connection with a money laundering case involving suspected anomalies in fertilizer export. His statement is being recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Agrasen Gehlot and his lawyer arrived before the investigation agency at roughly 11:30 a.m. He had been questioned in this instance previously but had gone to court to seek relief from the agency’s actions. Agrasen Gehlot’s son Anupam Gehlot had also testified before the CBI in the matter.
According to the sources, the Rajasthan High Court recently asked him to cooperate with the agency in the probe after ordering the Enforcement Directorate not to take any coercive action against him.
Last year in July, the authorities raided his businesses in Rajasthan. The raids took place in the midst of a political feud in the state between Ashok Gehlot and his then-deputy Sachin Pilot. The state’s ruling Congress has stated that it will not be intimidated by such actions by federal investigators.
The case involved the illicit sale of MOP, a banned commodity for exports, to Malaysian and Taiwanese clients under the pretence of industrial salts. Its export is regulated in order to ensure that it is available to Indian farmers, according to them.
The financial investigation agency has taken notice of the Customs FIR and charge sheet (filed on July 13, 2020) in this matter in order to pursue money laundering allegations and investigate a “smuggling syndicate” allegedly tied to Agrasen Gehlot, his firm Anupam Krishi, and others.
According to agency sources, the Customs slapped a penalty of over 60 crore on Agrasen Gehlot and his firm in 2013 for these alleged export irregularities. Allegedly, his company “diverted” 35,000 metric tonnes of MOP worth Rs 130 crore in the overseas market.
According to the ED, Agrasen Gehlot, in his capacity as a dealer, was the custodian of the MOP and was “solely responsible” for its proper distribution to the farmers, and that his alleged collusion with a company – Saraf Impex Private Limited – and others resulted in the diversion of MOP imported by Indian Potash Limited at reduced duty rates.
