“Yesterday (Friday), Raghunathan was questioned for around eight hours. He is being interrogated for the second day today (Saturday),” a senior ED official said. The former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of KFA appeared before the ED office here around 11 am.
The ED had issued summons to over half a dozen officials of the IDBI Bank and Vijay Mallya-owned KFA under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) wherein all the individuals have been asked to submit details about their personal finances and Income Tax Returns (ITRs) of last five years to the investigators.
Apart from Raghunathan, summons have also been issued to former Chairman and Managing Director of the bank, Yogesh Agarwal and other senior executive members and officials of both the organisations.
Officials had earlier indicated that the agency would question some important functionaries of the bank and the airlines before they decide on issuing summons to the main player and liquor baron Mallya in the case.
Keeping up the offensive on the Vijay Mallya issue, Congress on Friday alleged the businessman was “made to run away with active abetment” of government agencies.
Meanwhile, Congress party chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala told reporters that “sensational facts” have come in public domain reflecting a certain complicity of BJP leadership and Modi government in Mallya leaving the country.
“Facts now seem to suggest that Mallya has not left the country but made to run away with active abetment of government agencies,” he claimed.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said: “There are two NRIs gifted by Modiji in 20 months first NRI is Lalit Modi — Non Returning Indian and second NRI is Vijay Mallya — Non Repaying Indian.”
Ex-employees write to PM
Employees of Kingfisher Airlines wrote a letter to Narendra Modi in a ‘humanitarian’ appeal, seeking his intervention.
“Our present laws which were supposed to protect the employee’s interest have become redundant and are failing to solve the purpose that they were meant to serve. The best example would be that some of our colleagues who could afford legal fees went to courts and were awarded decrees in their favour even after which it did not translate into actual dues, thereby making a mockery of our justice system. Others are still fighting for their dues in the winding up petitions in the Hon’ble Karnataka High Court,” the letter said.