In a raid on the house of Madhya Pradesh businessman Manoj Parmar and his wife Neha, who died by suicide on December 13, the Enforcement Directorate officials turned off the cameras, assaulted Parmar, locked his family in a room, and seized Rs 10 lakh and 70 grams of gold without documenting it in the panchnama, says their alleged suicide note.
The five-page printed note, seen by Newslaundry, claimed that officials told Parmar the raid was a result of their “campaigning for the Congress”. The note said, “If your family had been with the BJP, there wouldn’t have been any case against you.”
The couple was found dead by their elder son at their residence in MP’s Sehore district on Friday morning, eight days after the purported harassment during the December 5 raid. Parmar had reportedly been facing trials in two ED and CBI cases in connection with a 2017 loan transaction.
The family of five came into the spotlight in March after Parmar’s children – Jiya, 18, Jatin, 16, and Yashraj, 12 – donated their piggy bank savings to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the MP-leg of his Bharat Jodo Yatra.
A 2017 case
Parmar was initially booked in a loan fraud case by the local Ashta police in October 2017. Months later, in December, he was charged by the CBI in the same matter.
The FIR against Parmar accused him of defrauding and cheating the Punjab National Bank. He was charged under Sections 120B, 420, 467, 468, and 471 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 13(1)(d) r/w 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Based on the CBI’s probe, the ED filed a case against him under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in March 2022, resulting in the ongoing ED investigations.
However, the ED conducted its first raid in the matter on December 5.
‘Assault, harassment’ during raid, probe over Rahul’s property
The ED raid on Parmar’s house began at 5 am and went on till 9 pm. The suicide note addressed to President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and MP Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, among others, said that the ED officials “first switched off the cameras of my entire house”.
Naming ED official Sanjeet Sahu, Parmar’s note said, “He first started hurling abuses, and then he assaulted me. He had snatched away the mobile phones of my entire family and locked my kids and wife in a room.”
Speaking to Newslaundry, Parmar’s son Jatin said that the entire family was locked in a room while the ED questioned Parmar. “We could hear his cries as they assaulted him. They kept asking him about Rahul Gandhi and his properties. My father repeatedly told them that he had never met Rahul Gandhi and had no knowledge of any such properties. He said the only people in our family who had met him were us, his children.”
Jatin, who makes videos to promote the Congress party, further recounted that Sahu “dragged” him out of the locked room by his collar. "He demanded to know what information I had about Rahul Gandhi and his properties. When I told him I had met Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra but had no personal information on him, he slapped me and kicked me to the ground.”
According to the note, Parmar was made to sit on the floor, while Sahu sat on the sofa with his foot resting on the former’s shoulder. “This is your real status,” said the note, allegedly quoting Sahu.
The family was allegedly denied food the entire day and also not allowed to use the washroom. Parmar’s alleged note said officials prevented him by closing the door.
The note said the ED seized jewellery and Rs 10 lakh that Parmar had borrowed from his relative to repay a Bank of Baroda loan in his wife’s name. “They did not record these items in the Panchnama.”
No FIR has been filed yet in connection with the suicide or the alleged harassment. Newslaundry reached out to Sehore Superintendent of Police Deepak Shukla on the matter, but he refused to respond to our queries.
‘Record video against Gandhi, join BJP’
On seeing Parmar’s children’s pictures with Rahul Gandhi, as per the note, the ED official reportedly told him, “These pictures and campaigning done by your kids for the Congress are the reason behind ED’s presence at your house.”
Sahu allegedly repeatedly asked Parmar to make his children join the BJP and record a video against Rahul Gandhi, “If you want to save your family” and “settle” the cases, or “more charges would be added”.
The ED official, as quoted in the note, said, “Your children meet Rahul Gandhi… even Rahul Gandhi wouldn’t be able to save you. Soon we are going to arrest him too… Tell your children that if they want to stay alive and protect your wife and family, they need to join the BJP. Otherwise, we'll frame your entire family in false cases.”
Another ED official named Radheshyam Bishnoi allegedly said, “You may have received bail in the CBI case, but in this matter, go and ask Kejriwal, Hemant Soren, and D Shivkumar. You’ll never get bail in your life.”
The alleged suicide note ended with Parmar requesting the Congress, and particularly Rahul Gandhi, to “take care of my kids after my death, so that a message would be sent that the Congress party stands by its workers”. “Because we joined you and started working for you, people like us are being harassed by ED.”
BJP MP spokesperson Ashish Agrawal told Newslaundry that the suicide was “extremely tragic” and accused the Congress of “misleading innocent children” to set “false narratives”. “The BJP stands by the affected family. Congress is playing dirty politics and is trying to find opportunities in someone’s death.”
Newslaundry reached out to the ED officials with queries on the matter. This report will be updated if they respond.
Update at 12.30 pm on Dec 15: In a response to Newslaundry, the Enforcement Directorate termed the deaths “unfortunate”. “With reference to Manoj Parmar, an active investigation by ED was ongoing for offence of money laundering wherein a search operation was conducted on December 5, 2024 to identify proceeds of crime, which otherwise could not have been identified and also to seize other evidence related to offence of money laundering. It is important to highlight that various documents related to properties identified as proceeds of crime and other incriminating documents were found and seized during the search proceedings. Additionally, it is ascertained during the investigation that Manoj Parmar was a habitual offender with various other criminal cases registered against him.”
Read the full ED statement here.
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