NEW DELHI: After interrogating Robert Vadra for two days in Jaipur earlier this week in connection with the Bikaner land scam, the Enforcement Directorate on Friday attached the Gandhi son-in-law's Sukhdev Vihar house besides other assets worth over Rs 4.62 crore. The house is in the name of his company Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd.

Vadra, brother-in-law of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, appeared before the agency's Jaipur office on February 12 for questioning related to land allotment in the Kolayat case. His company, according to the ED, purchased a large tract of land for a relatively small sum of Rs 72 lakh and sold it to Allegeny Finlease for Rs 5.15 crore. A case under the money laundering Act was registered in 2015 after an FIR was registered by the Rajasthan Police.

Priyanka Gandhi's husband has been questioned twice earlier in Delhi in a separate case of money laundering and alleged benami properties acquired by him in Dubai and London. He has also been accused of being beneficiary of some oil contracts and defence deals. The matter is under investigation and currently ED is questioning him in Delhi in this case.

The agency has claimed that Vadra generated an illegal profit of Rs 4.43 crore in the Bikaner land sale. The provisional attachment order for the Sukhdev Vihar residence has also accused four others of having generated a profit of Rs 18.59 lakh. Both Vadra and his mother are directors in the Sky Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd and accused in the case.

"The assets so acquired by them and valued at Rs 4.62 crore were attached on February 15, 2019 and include movable assets worth Rs 18.59 lakh and one immovable property situated at 268, Sukhdev Vihar, New Delhi to the extent of Rs 4.43 crore owned by Robert Vadra's company Sky Light Hospitality (P) Ltd," the agency said.

The ED investigation revealed that the central government had acquired land in as many as 34 villages in Bikaner district for the purpose of establishing the Mahajan Field Firing Range. The Rajasthan government proposed rehabilitation of displaced people by providing land equivalent to their acquired areas.

“Fraudster Jai Prakash Bagrwa and others, in collusion with state government officials, got 1,422 bigha of government land illegally allotted to fictitious persons in the guise of a scheme of the state government meant for people displaced due to establishment of MFFR and illegally sold 1,372 bigha out of this land to various persons/companies,” ED said.

After the fraud was detected, the land was transferred back as government land in revenue records by the Rajasthan government. Rajasthan Police had earlier registered 18 FIRs in this case and filed chargesheets against Jai Prakash Bagrwa and 10 others in August 2015 and March 2017. The ED later registered a case under PMLA in September 2015.

