The Enforcement Directorate has interrogated and recorded the statement of Alankar Sawai, a close assistant to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a money laundering case in which the agency recently detained TMC spokesman Saket Gokhale in Gujarat.
Sawai was questioned and also confronted with Gokhale in Ahmedabad, they said. A former banker, Sawai is considered to be a close aide of Gandhi and is stated to be heading his research team.
After detaining 35-year-old Gokhale on January 25, the federal investigation agency summoned Sawai. When Gokhale was questioned about the Rs 23,54,000 that had been paid into his bank account in cash over the course of a year, the ED informed an Ahmedabad court that Gokhale had responded, "This amount was given in cash by Alankar Sawai of the India National Congress for social media work and other consultancy."
On being asked as to why Sawai had paid him in cash, Gokhale stated that only Sawai can answer this question, the ED told the court in its remand paper.
“Further, on being asked regarding any written agreement with Alankar Sawai in respect of social media work he stated that it was only verbal agreement with Alankar Sawai,” the agency said.
The ED claimed that Gokhale received these cash payments while he was a member of the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Sawai is understood to have been questioned about these instances and his statement was recorded under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).