ED questions Virbhadra for eight hours in money laundering case

New Delhi, April 20 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday questioned Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in connection with a money laundering case, an official said.

The senior Congress leader arrived at the agency's office here in the afternoon and was questioned for over eight hours.

"The Chief Minister appeared before the Investigating Officer on Thursday afternoon and was allowed to go around 9 p.m. with instructions to again come whenever needed," ED spokesperson Anil Rawal told IANS.

Investigators said Virbhadra Singh was confronted with some documents seized by the Enforcement Directorate during its enquiry against him in the case. His statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Enforcement Directorate had summoned Virbhadra Singh in the case on April 18 for Thursday's appearance.

The agency had summoned the senior Congress leader earlier also, but he had then excused himself on the ground of prior official commitments.

The Enforcement Directorate had already questioned his wife Pratibha and son Vikramaditya Singh in the case.

It had filed a criminal case under the PMLA against the politician, his wife, Life Insurance Corporation agent Anand Chauhan, his associate Chunni Lal, and others in 2015 following the Central Bureau of Investigation's FIR dated September 23 that year.

Joginder Singh Ghalta, Prem Raj, Vakamulla Chandrasekhar, Lawan Kumar Roach and Ram Prakash Bhatia are also named in the case.

The case was registered after a preliminary inquiry found that Virbhadra Singh as Union Minister from 2009 to 2012 allegedly accumulated assets worth Rs 6.03 crore, which were disproportionate to his known sources of income.