Jharkhand Congress MLA Amba Prasad on Monday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in an alleged money laundering case. Before landing at the ED office, she had released a musical video to be played by Adivasis during their annual festival Sarhul. The musical theme of this video is “no fear …”.
Sarhul is celebrated during the spring season when Saal trees get new flowers on their branches. It is a worship of the village deity who is considered to be the protector of the tribes. People sing and dance a lot when the new flowers appear. This year, Sarhul is on April 11.
The deities are worshiped with saal flowers.” It’s during this festival, my musical video will be played”, said Amba Prasad. She said that she had demanded 15- day time to respond to ED’s summons.
On summons by the ED, Prasad told reporters, “This is not for the first time. I have been facing challenges since childhood. My life has been about struggle but I believe one thing that truth will prevail in the end.”
Prasad after releasing the musical video reached the ED office at Hinoo at around 2.30 pm.
The 36-year-old Prasad, who represents Barkagaon in Jharkhand assembly, had been asked to depose on April 4 by the ED to record her statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), official sources said.
But, the MLA did not turn up citing medical issues. Her father and former minister Yogendra Sao on April 4 had told reporters that Prasad sought time over medical grounds from the ED.
The Enforcement Directorate on March 12 conducted searches at 17 locations linked to Congress MLA Amba Prasad in Jharkhand, including her official residence in Ranchi and the premises of her relatives.
The searches were related to a land scam and illegal possession of moveable and immovable property and money laundering.
Earlier, on April 4, Amba Prasad’s father and former minister Yogendra Sao was interrogated by Enforcement Directorate zonal office in Ranchi in connection with extortion and money laundering. The investigating agency asked him questions about the money trail. The Enforcement Directorate had called him for questioning regarding the illegal sand mining case.
On March 12, ED had also raided the house of Amba Prasad and his close relatives. During the raid, ED also raided their various locations and recovered a total of Rs 30 lakh. Let us tell you that out of this, Rs 15 lakh was recovered from the house of Shashi Bhushan in Govindpur (Dhanbad). At the same time, Rs 11 lakh was seized from the house of Yogendra Sao's brother-in-law Mukesh Sao.
Apart from cash, ED had also recovered mobile phones and many important documents. In this case, the ED team is interrogating Yogendra Sao. Let us tell you that cases related to illegal land occupation, sand smuggling and extortion are registered against Congress MLA from Barakagaon Amba Prasad, her father Yogendra Sao.
