A three-member team of the Enforcement Directorate arrested former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram today morning after questioning him for nearly an hour at Delhi’s Tihar Jail in the INX Media money laundering case. The arrest came a day after a special court agreed to the agency’s request for his custodial interrogation. The 74-year-old Congress leader has been in Tihar jail since September 5 in the money laundering case.
ED arrests former FM Chidambaram
The official said that the ED investigating team followed procedure after a local court on Tuesday allowed it to interrogate the senior Congress leader and arrest him, if necessary, in this case.
Investigators of the central agency also arrived at the jail around 8:15 am and were present in the premises for about two hours. They briefly grilled Chidambaram and arrested him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The probe agency will be moving the CBI court later in the day seeking Mr. Chidambaram’s custody. The application will be heard tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Mr. Chidambaram’s wife Nalini and son Karti also went to jail this morning to meet him. After meeting his father, Karti said the 74-year-old is in “good spirits”. He said, “I came to meet my father. He is in good spirits. Whatever these procedural games are being played are for political theatrics. This is a bogus investigation.”
Notably, Karti has also been accused in the case and has been arrested by the CBI in the past.
As per reports, the agency initially wanted to arrest him as soon as possible. The officials even suggested that Mr. Chidambaram can be interrogated at the Rouse Avenue court premises and then arrested but Judge intervened saying “dignity of the person should be considered”.
ED arrests former FM Chidambaram in INX Media Case
The court gave two options to the agency: To question Mr. Chidambaram at the court premises for half an hour and then move the application for custody, and sending him to Tihar jail for now and arresting him from there. The agency had settled for the second option.
Arrested by the CBI on August 21, Mr. Chidambaram has been in judicial custody since September 5 in the INX Media corruption case filed by the CBI. The Enforcement Directorate wants to question him on a related case that allegedly involves money-laundering.
Mr. Chidambaram is accused of signing off on a huge infusion of foreign funds into the firm as the finance minister in the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh in 2007 at the behest of his son Karti Chidambaram. The CBI has accused Karti Chidambaram of receiving kickbacks in the matter.
