BHOPAL: A day after a businessman and his wife allegedly died by suicide in Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore district, leaving behind a typed letter-cum-suicide note (which mentioned harassment by the Enforcement Directorate), the deceased couple’s three children spoke to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over the phone on Saturday.
“My father was being pressurised to make us join the BJP, but instead of succumbing under pressure, he preferred to commit suicide. There was sustained pressure from the ED’s side on him to join the BJP,” the couple’s teenage son Jatin, eldest among two sons and one daughter, told Rahul Gandhi, while talking to the Rae Bareli MP through state Congress chief Jitu Patwari’s cell-phone.
The deceased couple Manoj and Neha Parmar’s only daughter Jiya (second among the three children) broke into tears while speaking to Gandhi over the phone. “After the demise of our parents, you’re our only hope. We met you during the Yatra (Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra) but didn’t ask you for anything, but we now want you to visit us.”
While assuring the three kids, including the youngest of them, 12-year-old Yash, about his and the Congress party’s support, Gandhi enquired about the native place of the children and the entire incident. The fifth-time Lok Sabha member further enquired from the state Congress chief when the post-death rituals will conclude. The state Congress chief Jitu Patwari could be seen in the video, telling Gandhi that if he was caught up and couldn’t find time to visit Ashta town, then he would bring the kids to Delhi.
Sources privy to the development said Rahul Gandhi may plan to meet the kids at their native place in the Sehore district of central MP, once the post-death rituals are over.
The couple Manoj Parmar and Neha Parmar were found hanging to death inside their house in Ashta town of Sehore district on Friday morning, eight days after the ED raided Manoj’s office premises in two districts in connection with a Rs 6 crore loan fraud case, in which he was the prime accused.
The police got from the spot a five-page letter-cum-suicide addressed to 17 entities spanning from the President, Prime Minister, MP CM and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, in which excessive harassment and torture by the ED during the December 5 search was alleged. The letter also mentioned pressure being mounted to make his kids join the BJP.
The three kids had met Rahul Gandhi during the latter's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in MP in 2022 and reportedly gifted him their gullak (piggy bank). Since then Parmar and the kids were being seen as Congress supporters.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate came out with a two-page official statement on the entire issue on Saturday.
While terming the couple's suicide as “unfortunate”, the ED stated that search proceedings were concluded at Parmar’s premises on December 5 in a peaceful and conducive manner.
“After the conclusion of the search, Manoj Parmar and his wife were summoned by the ED on December 9 and 10 to record their statement concerning various incriminating documents found during the search proceeding. However, both of them failed to appear. On their behalf, their nephew Rohit Parmar came to the office requesting an adjournment. The same was granted for an appearance on December 12", it said.
"Thereafter, an email was received from Manoj Parmar on December 10 giving his willingness to appear for a statement on December 12 by 3:30 pm. At around noon on December 12, a phone call was received at the reception of the ED’s Bhopal Zonal Office, wherein Manoj Parmar stated to be on their way to the office and confirmed to reach for a statement by 3:30 pm. But again, he failed to appear. It is to mention that apart from the above, no contact has been made by any officer/ official of ED with Manoj Parmar or his wife after the conclusion of search proceedings,” said the ED.
“Manoj Parmar was a habitual offender with various other criminal cases registered against him. A case for the offence of money laundering under the provisions of PMLA, 2002 was initiated by ED on March 31, 2022, based on a CBI FIR dated December 1, 2017, for defrauding and cheating Punjab National Bank. CBI had filed a charge sheet against two accused persons, Manoj Parmar and Mark Pius Karari (Bank official) on December 17, 2018, and that case is under trial before CBI Court, Bhopal,” it said.
“As per ED investigation findings, Manoj Parmar was the main accused and mastermind of the bank fraud and he later diverted the proceeds of crime for personal gains. A criminal conspiracy was hatched by using fake quotations, forged bills, letters, and acknowledgements. The loan funds were later diverted and thus, causing a wrongful loss to the bank of Rs 6.20 crore along with subsidy amounting to Rs 32.5 lakh under the schemes of Pradhan Mantri Employment Generation Program and Chief Minister Yuva Udhami Yojna,” the ED statement stated while also mentioning about the seizure of significant incriminating evidence during the December 5, 2024 search at Parmar’s premises under the PMLA Act 2002.