Assets worth more than Rs 3,000 crore linked to Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani, his group companies and linked entities have been attached as part of a money laundering investigation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Monday.

The federal probe agency issued four provisional orders under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on October 31 for attaching 42 properties, including the 66-year-old Ambani’s family home in Pali Hill, Mumbai, apart from other residential and commercial properties of his group companies, it said.

A plot of land belonging to the Reliance Centre on Maharaja Ranjit Singh Marg in Delhi and multiple other assets of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd., certain linked entities like Adhar Property Consultancy Private Limited, Mohanbir Hi-tech Build Private Limited, Gamesa Investment Management Private Limited, Vihaan43 Realty Private Limited (earlier known as Kunjbihari Developers Private Limited) and that of Campion Properties Limited have been attached.

These properties are located in the national capital, Noida, Ghaziabad, Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Hyderabad, Chennai and East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh.

Offices in the ‘Nagin Mahal’ building at Churchgate in Mumbai, flats in BHA Millenium apartments in Noida and Camus Capri Apartments in Hyderabad are among those provisionally attached by the ED.

The total value of the attached assets is more than Rs 3,083 crore, the agency said in a statement.

There was no immediate response from Ambani or his group on the ED action.

The agency said, so far, ED has detected “fraudulent” diversion of public money by various Reliance Anil Ambani group companies, including Reliance Communications Ltd (RCOM), Reliance Home Finance Ltd (RHFL), Reliance Commercial Finance Ltd (RCFL), Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (R-Infra) and Reliance Power Ltd.

The statement said a separate search action was carried out by the agency under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) against R-Infra and it was found that Rs 40 crore was “siphoned” from the Jaipur-Reengus highway project.

“Funds moved through Surat-based shell companies to Dubai. The trail has unearthed a wider international hawala network exceeding Rs 600 crore,” it said.

The agency alleged that around 2010-12 onwards, RCOM and its group companies raised thousands of crores from Indian banks, of which Rs 19,694 crore remains outstanding. These assets turned into non-performing assets (NPA), with five banks declaring RCOM’s loan accounts as fraud, it said.

“Loans taken by one entity from one bank were utilised for repayment of loans taken by other entities from other banks, transfer to related parties, and investments in mutual funds, which was in contravention of the terms and conditions of the sanction letter of the loans.”

“In particular, RCOM and its group companies diverted over Rs 13,600 crore used in evergreening loans, over Rs 12,600 crore was diverted to connected parties and over Rs 1,800 crore was invested in fixed deposits and mutual funds, etc.,” it said.

The agency claimed certain loans were “siphoned off” outside India through foreign outward remittances.

It said that during 2017-2019, Yes Bank invested Rs 2,965 crore in RHFL instruments and Rs 2,045 crore in RCFL instruments. By December 2019, these became “non-performing” investments, it claimed.

The “outstanding” was Rs 1,353.50 crore for RHFL and Rs 1,984 crore for RCFL.

The agency added that RHFL and RCFL received public funds of more than Rs 10,000 crore and a large amount of this fund came from Yes Bank.

“Before Yes Bank invested this money in Reliance Anil Ambani group companies, it received huge funds from the erstwhile Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund.

“As per SEBI regulations, Reliance Nippon Mutual Fund could not invest/divert funds directly in Anil Ambani group finance companies due to conflict-of-interest rules,” the agency said.

The ED said it has “detected a pattern of mala fide in this case like pre-decided beneficiaries, manufactured paperwork, waived controls, and disbursals ahead of approvals, followed by swift routing to related entities”.

“This conduct enabled siphoning of public funds,” it said.

The ED, it said, continues to trace the proceeds of crime.

“The recoveries by ED, after following due process of law, are aimed at restoring losses to lenders and, ultimately, benefitting the general public,” it said, hinting at restoring or restituting the assets with “victim” banks, a provision available under the PMLA.

Ambani was questioned in the case by the ED in August.

This came after the agency searched 35 premises of 50 companies and 25 people, including executives of his business group, in Mumbai on July 24.

The ED’s money laundering case stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation FIR.

—PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday charged the RJD with having stalled development projects in Bihar by putting pressure on the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre to “avenge” its ouster from power in the state in 2005.

Addressing a rally in Saharsa district in north Bihar, Modi also reiterated that the Congress grudgingly agreed to declare Tejashwi Yadav as the INDIA bloc’s chief ministerial candidate, after the RJD placed a ‘katta’ or illegal country-made gun on its head.

“Now in the current elections, the Congress, which is already a spent force in Bihar, has vowed to make the RJD sink,” he claimed.

Modi urged the people to punish the RJD for its “sins” and asserted “the NDA stands for development while the jungle raj wallahs for destruction”.

“The RJD was sharing power at the Centre when it was voted out of power in Bihar in 2005. Projects like the Kosi Mahasetu had been sanctioned by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. So enraged was the RJD by Nitish Kumar forming a new government in the state that it put pressure on Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi and stalled all such projects in Bihar,” he alleged.

“The RJD can never understand the sufferings of the people of the Kosi region, which were alleviated through the construction of the bridge. We are also working on the interlinking of rivers. The NDA manifesto has also put forth a blueprint on flood control,” he said.

Speaking in an area which has a substantial Muslim population, Modi charged the RJD-Congress combine with being soft on “infiltrators” and disdainful towards the Ram temple at Ayodhya and the Chhath festival.

“The leaders of the RJD and Congress take time off to visit all types of places abroad. But they do not get the time to visit Ayodhya. If they have so much dislike for Lord Ram, they can still go and see the monuments built in the memory of Nishad Raj and Valmiki,” said the PM, in an apparent jibe at the INDIA bloc’s pro-deprived caste stance.

Noting that the north Bihar region of Mithila was known, in ancient times, for female deities like Sita, Bharti and Gargi, the PM said, “From this land of glorious women, I would like to congratulate our daughters who have done us proud by winning the Cricket World Cup.”

Highlighting the achievements by women in various walks of life, Modi said that those who made fun of the “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” slogan must be feeling mortified over having heaped so much scorn on the country’s women.

“To our mothers and sisters who have benefited from welfare schemes of the NDA, I would say, beware of the ‘jungle raj wallahs’; they intend to put a stop to all these measures upon coming to power,” he claimed.

Modi also highlighted the special regard he has had for Bihar and its specialities, and pointed towards a garland of “makhana” which was presented to him at the stage.

“I gift makhana boxes to world leaders during foreign visits, tell them this is the hard work of Bihar’s farmers,” he said.

The PM also sought to underscore the alleged lawlessness that prevailed during the RJD rule, saying that “even police personnel, who wanted to carry out their responsibilities conscientiously, were not safe. Those involved in building highways were killed. People from backward and extremely backward classes suffered atrocities”.

“DSP Satyapal Singh was murdered in Saharsa as he acted against lawlessness,” he added.

Without naming Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition, he said, “They are day-dreaming about forming the next government at the Centre and promising to set up a university at Nalanda, an ancient seat of learning, where foreigners would come to pursue education.”

“The Congress has a habit of lying. I am telling you that a modern university has been built at Nalanda. When they were in power, a paltry sum of Rs 20 crore was sanctioned for the project, and then they forgot about it. After we came to power in 2014, we spent Rs 2,000 crore on it,” he claimed.

—PTI

Nineteen people, including 13 women and a girl child, were killed and 22 others suffered injuries when a tipper lorry carrying gravel collided head-on with a public transport bus in Ranga Reddy district of Telangana on Monday, officials said. TV reports said 20 people had died.

The tipper collided with the Telangana Road Transport Corporation (RTC) vehicle near Chevella, about 50 kms from Hyderabad, on Monday morning, resulting in the gravel falling on the bus.

A district official said 22 people suffered injuries in the mishap.

Cyberabad Police Commissioner Avinash Mohanty said the drivers of both vehicles died in the accident.

Noting that a head-on collision occurs when one of the vehicles is on the wrong side, he said the cause of the accident would be known after the inquiry.

With the gravel falling on the bus, several passengers got trapped inside the vehicle and officials carried out relief measures using earthmovers.

The passengers of the bus were brought out of it, a police official said.

In a post on X, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident.

He announced a compensation of Rs two lakhs to the families of those who died, and Rs 50,000 each to the injured.

“I extend my deepest condolences to the affected individuals and their family members during this difficult time. I pray that the injured recover quickly,” he said.

Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, who visited the government hospital at Chevella, where the accident victims were admitted, said, “19 people were killed in the accident”.

He said 72 people were in the ill-fated bus, which was proceeding to Hyderabad from Tandur in Ranga Reddy district early Monday morning.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy held a tele-conference with ministers and officials on the accident.

The government would ensure advanced medical care to the injured and also assist the families of the deceased in conducting funerals, he said.

The government has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

The Transport Minister also said the state government would offer Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased in addition to Rs 2 lakh from TGSRTC.

The government would also provide Rs 2 lakh each to the injured.

Soon after coming to know of the mishap, the Chief Minister instructed officials to take up relief measures on a war footing.

He also told ministers and officials to undertake relief measures, including providing compensation to the families of the deceased, in addition to the insurance provided by the RTC, an official release said.

Recalling the horrific incident, a survivor said he was dozing in the bus when a loud thud jolted him awake, leaving him half-buried in gravel.

“Several people were buried under the gravel. The tipper lorry came from the opposite direction. I was seated on the left side of the bus. We managed to climb out, but those who were sitting behind the driver couldn’t make it — some of them died. I was seated three rows behind the conductor,” he told mediapersons.

He further said he opened a window and escaped, with six others following.

Later, another person broke the window panes to free more passengers.

A doctor at the government hospital in Chevella said the accident victims suffered fractures, facial, abdominal and leg injuries.

The injured were undergoing treatment, including administration of IV fluid, TT injections and referred to major state-run hospitals in Hyderabad.

According to TV visuals, half the bus was filled with gravel, trapping passengers inside.

The authorities deployed heavy earth-moving equipment to clear the wreckage of the ill-fated bus.

Meanwhile, Chevella MLA Kale Yadaiah attributed the accident near Chevella to the narrowness of the road.

Chevella Inspector Sridhar sustained minor injuries during a rescue operation after an excavator ran over his leg, a police official said.

Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma, Union Ministers G Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar, state BJP president N Ramchander Rao, BRS Working President K T Rama Rao and several other leaders expressed sadness over the loss of lives in the accident.