Amid political impasse, ED raids Gehlot's brother in fertiliser scam

Jaipur, July 22: A company owned by the brother of Ashok Gehlot, Agrasen Gehlot, is being raided by the Enforcement Directorate, regarding a fertiliser scam.

The raid comes at a time when Rajasthan is witnessing an intense power tussle between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot.

The ED officials said searches are being conducted by the central probe agency in at least 13 places in Rajasthan, West Bengal, Gujarat and Delhi.

The searches are also being conducted at the premises of Agrasen Gehlot in Jodhpur, who is facing a Rs 7 crore Customs penalty in this alleged fertiliser case, officials also said.

Six places in Rajasthan, four in Gujarat, 2 in West Bengal and one location in Delhi are being raided by the agency under the PMLA, they said.

The ED has filed a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on a Customs department complaint and chargesheet in the alleged fertiliser scam case.

According to ED, imported fertiliser (subsidised) was diverted to private companies. Agrasen Gehlot okayed a key role in diverting the product to private companies. Subsidised fertiliser was supposed to be consumed domestically by only farmers at subsidised rates.

Agrasen Gehlot, who runs a business of seeds and fertilisers, is under the scanner in the alleged scam since 2007-08.

The case was initially being investigated by the IT department. After the IT Department filed a prosecution complaint, a case has been registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

It may be recalled that the Income Tax Department had last week conducted searches in Jaipur in connection with a tax evasion case against a Rajasthan-based hydropower infrastructure company and some linked business groups.

Mahesh Joshi, the Congress' chief whip had condemned the I-T raids on premises linked to two Congress leaders.

The premises were linked to Congress leaders Rajiv Arora and Dharmendra Rathore.

Ashok Gehlot government plunged into political crisis after a rebellion by Sachin Pilot and MLAs loyal to him.

The BJP has 76 MLAs in the 200-member Rajasthan assembly and to form government, the party will need the support of at least 25 more MLAs.