Former civil aviation minister and senior NCP leader Praful Patel will appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the second consecutive day in connection with the Deepak Talwar case.
Praful Patel, who reached the probe agency headquarters around 10 am on Monday, is likely to be quizzed over his alleged association with aviation lobbyist Deepak Talwar.
ED sources have told India Today that they are in possession of ‘circumstantial evidence’ implicating Praful Patel and he may be confronted with the documentary evidence which the agency gathered during its investigation.
On Monday, Praful Patel was grilled for over eight hours by the ED in connection with a probe into the irregular seat-sharing on Air India’s profitable routes.
This was the first time that Praful Patel appeared before the financial probe agency in connection with the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Praful was summoned by the probe agency to appear for questioning over his alleged involvement in awarding favourable air traffic rights to foreign airlines that caused losses to Air India.
Earlier, the ED had said Deepak Talwar, currently in judicial custody, allegedly acted as a middleman to favour foreign private airlines, causing huge loss to the national carrier.
Patel’s name, who was the civil aviation minister between 2004 and 2011, came up in the alleged scam in a chargesheet filed by the ED against Deepak Talwar on March 30.
The ED alleged that Deepak Talwar was in regular touch with Praful Patel while acting as a middleman in negotiations to favour foreign private airlines, causing losses to national carrier Air India.
The ED claimed that they are in possession of emails of Praful Patel that implicates him. The ED has already questioned several Air India officials and also recorded the statements of the then civil aviation secretary and others involved in the processing and finalising the agreements.
Praful Patel, who was the civil aviation minister in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government when the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines took place, has denied any wrongdoing.
The ED is probing the Air India-Indian Airlines merger; purchase of 111 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus at Rs 70,000 crore; ceding of profitable routes and schedules to private airlines, and opening of training institutes with foreign investment.
It is also investigating how the money received in Talwar’s accounts was transferred to government employees, including those in the civil aviation ministry.
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