ED summons Kundra in Iqbal Mirchi property deal probe

NEW DELHI: In a new twist in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe into the property deals related to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's close aide late Iqbal Mirchi, the financial probe agency has now summoned businessman and Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty's husband Raj Kundra for questioning in connection with the case. Officials here said Kundra has been asked to appear for questioning in the case at their Mumbai offices.

The ED has identified business transactions of Kundra with arrested accused Ranjeet Singh Bindra, who was instrumental in the property deals worth Rs 225 crore.

Officials here said, "The agency has got the details of a real estate firm named RKW

Developers Private Limited, whose director was Bindra, and it had transactions with Essential Hospitality Limited where actress Shilpa Shetty is one of the directors." They said that RKW Developers invested Rs 44.11 crore in Essential Hospitality and provided an interest-free loan of Rs 31.54 crore. Further, over Rs 30.45 crore of loan was granted to Essential Hospitality between April 2017 and March 2018 and Rs 117.17 crore between April 2016 and March 2017.

Kundra had earlier issued a statement in which he said, "Bastian Hospitality, which owns and operates some of Mumbai's most popular restaurants, has requested Bindra (a director in the company) to step down from his role until he has been cleared by the courts".

"The shareholders and management unanimously decided that this would be the best move, in the light of the current events. We remain supportive of Bindra, but believe this is the right approach at present, to respect the courts as they conduct their investigations, and our customers who we greatly value," he added.

According to the ED, Bindra was allegedly working on the behest of Mirchi and played an important role in negotiating property deals for him along with Mirchi's associate Humayun Merchant.

Earlier the agency arrested Bindra and Haroun Yusuf, former chairman of a dubious trust, both close aides of Mirchi, from Mumbai. According to the ED, while Bindra acted as a broker for the land deals, Yusuf facilitated them by transferring the money to a trust.