Have evidence that Congress' Ahmed Patel was given Rs 25 lakh bribe: ED tells Delhi court
There appears to be more trouble for the Congress high command after the Enforcement Directorate told a Delhi court that it had evidence of Rs 25 lakh, suspected to be a bribe, was delivered to the residence of Gujarat Congress leader Ahmed Patel, NDTV reported.
Patel, the top aide of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, has earlier been accused by the ED of corruption, the most famous allegation being the Augusta Wasteland Chopper scam.
The ED on Friday reportedly provided this information, while it was persuading the court to give it 15-day custody of a man, identified as Ranjit Malik. The ED said they had recorded the statement of a man called Rakesh Chandra who says he had acted as a cash courier for Ranjit Malik. He also spoke about delivering 25 lakh cash to 23, Mother Teresa Crescent Road. This is the official residence of Ahmed Patel who is also a Rajya Sabha MP.
ED officials told the court that they not only had the witness statement but also "telephonic chats and financial transactions" to back up its charges in the case.
Patel’s office, however, rubbished the allegations.
On July 31 this year, Christian Michel, a suspected middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper scam, claimed he was asked to implicate UPA leaders Sonia Gandhi and Ahmed Patel.
He claimed he was asked to specify in writing that 'Family' and 'AP' stood for the Gandhi family and the Rajya Sabha MP.
Michel said that he would have been allowed to walk free had he done so and claimed he could obtain CCTV footage to prove that he met CBI officials.
He said: “"[The] CBI is lying; I have at least six witnesses to prove that we had three meetings," he said.
The CBI had earlier claimed it hadn’t questioned Christian Michel in UAE.
from Daily News & Analysis https://ift.tt/2ObmGdZ
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