New Delhi: A Delhi court Tuesday sent NRI businessman CC Thampi to judicial custody in a money laundering probe related to a case against Robert Vadra for acquisition of alleged illegal assets abroad.
Special CBI Judge Arvind Kumar sent Thampi, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the case, to jail till February 7 while rejecting the probe agency’s request for his further custodial interrogation in the case involving Vadra, son-in-law of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
The case relates to allegations of money laundering in the purchase of a London-based property – located at 12, Bryanston Square – worth 1.9 million pounds, which is allegedly owned by Vadra.
The court also reserved for Wednesday the order on his bail application, which said that Thampi was not required for further interrogation and no purpose will be served by keeping him in custody.
The application was opposed by ED’s advocate Amit Mahajan and NK Matta, who said that the probe was at initial stage and if released, Thampi may hamper the ongoing investigation.
The agency, also represented by advocate Atul Tripathi, told the court that the pre-arrest bail of the co-accused – Vadra and his close aide Manoj Arora – has been challenged.
Another co-accused, Sanjay Bhandari, is absconding and red corner notice (RCN) has been issued against him, the agency further submitted.
Thampi was arrested January 18 by the ED. He is stated to be ‘controlling’ Dubai-based company Sky Lite. In 2009, Bhandari’s firm Santech FZE purchased a London asset from a private company which was acquired by Sky Lite.
Vadra is alleged to have acquired this London-based asset, and few purported emails between him and Bhandari regarding renovation of the London flat are part of the evidence in the case.
PTI