ED carries out searches at the house of Ashok Gehlot’s brother in ‘fertilizer export’ case

Jaipur: At a time when the Rajasthan government is grappling with internal conflicts, an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team reportedly carried out searches at the house of the elder brother of state chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday. The case dating back to 2009 was earlier investigated by the Customs Department; however, the ED has now opened a probe in the matter.

Elder brother Agrasen is accused of buying fertilizers from the government at a concessional rate and selling it to overseas companies at a hefty benefit when Ashok Gehlot was the chief minister and Manmohan Singh was the prime minister. The customs department had slapped a fine of Rs 5.45 crore in the matter.

Agrasen has maintained that he was being framed for being the brother of the chief minister and he is not involved in any wrongdoings.

It is accused that Agrasen Gehlot’s firm obtained a product that is used for making fertilizers at a subsidized rate from the government between 2007 and 2009. The firm was allegedly supposed to distribute the fertilizer to the farmers in the state; however through some other firms the product was export and sold to private companies at a hefty benefit. This product can not be exported because the country relies on import from other countries. The investigation had been opened by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in Gujarat.