Money trail: ED files case against Karti Chidambaram, Sachin Pilot

NEW DELHI: In a fresh trouble for Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister P Chidambaram, and Congress leader Sachin Pilot, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered a case under stringent sections of money laundering. ED has also sought details of the investigations carried out by the Jaipur police to unravel the money trail in the scam.

In its FIR, the agency has also named former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Ravi Krishna son of union minister Vayalar Ravi and director of of Ziqitza Healthcare Limited (ZHL) and another director Sweta Mangal. ED said Karti and Pilot were also the directors of the firm.

The Rajasthan Police, which also named officials of Ziqitza Healthcare, had filed the FIR on the basis of a probe into a complaint filed by former Jaipur Mayor Pankaj Joshi. According to ED, there are allegations of irregularities in the award of tender in favour of the firm Ziqitza healthcare by deliberately inserting technical specification. The irregularities in the implementation of the project included excess bills claimed by the firm and paid to them and alleged financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 2.56 crore in operating the ambulance service during the previous Congress rule was claimed by the police.

ED took over the probe after CBI recently registered an FIR into the scam on a formal notification issued by the state as well as the Central governments. Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje had asked the Centre last year to order a CBI probe into the scam.