After 3 days and 30 hrs of ED questioning, Rahul Gandhi summoned again on Friday
New Delhi/IBNS: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been summoned again on Friday by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper even after being quizzed for 30 hours in a span of three days.
Officials said the Congress MP sought exemption from questioning for Thursday which was allowed.
On Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi arrived at the ED Headquarters in Delhi at around 11.35 am.
The former Congress President was accompanied by his sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as his convoy whizzed past police barricades thronged by party supporters.
Gandhi left soon after dropping her brother off at the office of the probe agency.
Meanwhile, Congress leaders on Wednesday strongly condemned the Delhi Police for entering the party office and said the Constitution has been "crushed under bulldozers".
The Congress will protest outside Governor Houses across the country on Thursday against the police action and on Friday, protests will be staged at every district headquarter.
On Wednesday, as Delhi Police detained several Congress workers and leaders once again, a group of police personnel entered inside the gate of the party office and pulled out and detained party workers triggering a protest by senior leaders of the party.
"They entered the Congress office and detained and manhandled workers and leaders... Democracy has been crushed under bulldozer," Congress Chief Spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said.
Surjewala condemned the incident and demanded an FIR against guilty police officials and their suspension.
"Today, Delhi Police forcibly entered the HQ of India’s oldest political party. As they burst the doors open to the AICC HQ, they trampled upon the democracy our forefathers fought and gave their lives for. BJP has truly killed Indian democracy. It doesn’t get darker than this," Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said in a tweet.
Delhi Police DCP Amrutha Guguloth has denied entering the party office premises. "No such incident took place," the DCP said in response to queries on the incident.
Videos shared by several Congress leaders, however, showed police personnel stepping inside the party office's gates.
So far, Rahul Gandhi has faced over 25 hours of questioning at the ED office. His statement was recorded in multiple sessions under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) by the probe agency officials.
After Day 2 of interrogation concluded last night, Rahul Gandhi accompanied by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra went to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital to meet his mother and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Sonia Gandhi, who has also been summoned for questioning, will depose before the probe agency on June 23.
The Congress president was admitted to the hospital on Sunday owing to Covid-related issues and is said to be stable now.
The case relates to the ED probe into the alleged financial irregularities between Young Indian and Associated Journals Ltd (AJL), which publishes the National Herald newspaper.
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