Enforcement Directorate raids multiple locations, National Herald head office in Delhi

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today raided a dozen locations, including the head office of the Congress party-owned National Herald newspaper, days after questioning Sonia Gandhi as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged money laundering , officials said.

The central probe agency officers raided the 'Herald House' office located at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, ITO in central Delhi. The property is registered in the name of Associated Journals Ltd, which publishes the newspaper.

The raids are being carried out under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to "gather additional evidences with regard to the trail of funds," the officials told PTI.


The ED had questioned opposition Congress' interim chief Sonia Gandhi for three days, triggering protests in the parliament and across the country blaming the BJP-led government is misusing the central agencies. Apart from some Congress politicians, party leader and MP Rahul Gandhi was also questioned in the case related to the newspaper that was started in 1938 by Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister.

The probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in Young Indian Private Limited, promoted by the Congress, that owns National Herald. The party has said AJL faced huge debts and the Congress, from 2002 to 2011, gave Rs 90 crore to the National Herald newspaper to pay the salaries of the journalists and staffers who worked there.

BJP MP Subramanian Swamy had accused Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and others of conspiring to cheat and misappropriate funds, with Young Indian paying only Rs 50 lakh to obtain the right to recover Rs 90 crore that AJL owed to the Congress.

(With inputs from PTI)