ED searches Karti Chidambaram's office

"Would like to see how far a foolish government will go on harassing him (Karti)," said the former Union Minister

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday searched the office of Karti Chidambaram, son of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, in connection with its probe against firms owned by his friends.

The ED action invited strong criticism from Chidambaram senior who said “nothing was found” in the “fishing and roving” enquiry and he would like to see how far a “foolish” government would go in “harassing” him.  He called it a “fishing and roving” enquiry and wondered how far a “foolish” government would go to harass him.

Karti Chidambaram issued a statement that some officers of the investigating agencies visited his office on Wednesday. “I was informed that they are investigating three firms. Two of the firms belong to my friends. They are owned by professionals and managed by competent Board of Directors. I am not aware of the third firm,” he said in the statement.

ED officials said they searched a room they had locked in the office premises of Karti as part of their operation that was executed on December 1.

Officials said the room could not be opened on December 1 and was sealed. It was opened today and Karti was informed accordingly, they said.

Karti, in his statement, reiterated he had no “economic interests” in the firms being investigated by the probe agencies as he expressed surprise over the action conducted today.

“I made it clear to the officers what I had publicly stated earlier. Neither I nor any member of my family is a shareholder or Director of any of the said firms. We do not have any economic interests in the said firms,” he said.