Congress leader claims Modi-led govt involved in money laundering

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Kapil Sibal has alleged that the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was involved in a money laundering scam during the 2016 demonetisation drive, The Hindu reported.

Sibal made these allegations while addressing a press conference and claimed that the currency notes worth thousands of crores were printed abroad and transported into India.

During the press conference, the former law minister played two video clips, the first of which showed a sting operation in which a government official said BJP’s top leadership was involved in the money exchange operation.

The official, identified as Rahul Ratharekar from the government’s intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), claimed to an undercover reporter that officials from 26 departments were involved in the money exchange operation and transported into India by special aircraft.

In another video, the official can be seen carrying out the exchange of old currency for new ones.

“The video shows the exchange of demonetised notes with the new ones in a government godown in Maharashtra,” Sibal said. However, he did not authenticate the videos and maintained that all the names mentioned in the clip were in the public domain and could be independently verified by the agencies, Hindustan Times reported.

“Demonetisation is the biggest scam in the history of India. Current notes (issued after the old Rs500/100 notes were demonetised in

November 2016) were printed abroad and transported into India and there can be nothing more anti-national than this,” Sibal said.

“Will this government arrest these people, will the ED (Enforcement Directorate) arrest these people? Will the CBI arrest all the people who are involved? They will not, because ED protects those who loot the country,” Sibal said.