Natwar kin questioned for second day

New Delhi, Apr 25 (UNI) Aditya Khanna, a relative of former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, was today questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for the second consecutive day at its office here in connection with the Iraq oil-for-food scam.

Sources said the questioning lasted more than three hours.

Khanna's arrival, which was mandatory if his father Vipin was to be allowed to leave for the UK, would pave the way for the ED to finalise its 'showcause' notice against some whom it has 'shortlisted', which might include Mr Natwar Singh, said sources.

The former Foreign Minister has denied all allegations slapped on him by the ED.

It is believed that Khanna, an NRI and a cousin of Natwar Singh, is being questioned on the alleged payments he received from Masefields - the company which got contracts in the scam.

The ED alleges that funds received by Khanna from Masefields, meant for distribution among the alleged Indian beneficiaries, were later on transferred from his London bank account to a bank in Delhi.

The ED, which is investigating the role of Khanna in the documents which showed a connection between Masefields and Hamdan Exports, owned by his partner Andleeb Sehgal, also wants to know from Khanna the real beneficiaries of the funds which he received from Masefields.

Sehgal has already been questioned by the ED on last Sunday in this connection.

Despite a 'letter of cancellation' issued against his passport, Khanna had managed to slip to the UK earlier this month.

His father, Vipin Khanna, too was prevented by ED officials from leaving Delhi on April 9 while he was about to leave for the UK.

The revocation of Aditya Khanna's passport was made on the basis of the progress the ED had made in its probe into the dealings of Indians with the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in the oil-for-food programme, between 1996 and 2003, which was being run under the aegis of the United Nations.

Aditya's brother Arvind Khanna, a Congress MLA from Sangrur (Punjab), was also detained earlier by Immigration authorities and handed over to the Enforcement Directorate.

Yesterday, Khanna had been whisked away by ED sleuths soon after his arrival on a Virgin Atlantic flight from London, where he runs a restaurant.

He has been questioned twice before -- on February 27 and March 8 this year.

Meanwhile, the ED, which has prepared 'enough grounds' to nail the accused in the multi-million dollar scam, had also taken assistance from Income Tax department records on tax returns filed by Aditya, his brother Arvind and father Vipin.

Probing into the Indian angle of the Iraq oil-for-food scam, 'exposed' by the Volcker Committee report, the Directorate has so far interrogated several well-known people which include Mr Natwar Singh, his son Jagat Singh, former Indian envoy to Croatia Aneil Matherani and Andaleeb Sehgal.

On his part, Aditya Khanna in a statement said he voluntarily made himself available to ED authorities soon after his arrival yesterday.

''We would like to reiterate that Aditya Khanna was not asked by the ED or the Indian High Commission in London to go to India and has arrived here voluntarily as he is keen on clearing his name in any ongoing controversy at the earliest,'' said the statement.

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