New Delhi, July 28: Agrasain Gehlot, the brother of embattled Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday and asked to appear before the probing agency within 24 hours. The summon was issued nearly a week after the agency sleuths raided a total of 13 locations across the country linked to his firm.

M/s Anupam Krishi, the company linked to Agrasain, was allegedly involved in money laundering activities through supply of a fertiliser to foreign nations whose export is restricted. As per the preliminary probe, the company had exported several consignments of Muriate of Potash or MOP.

The summoning of Gehlot's brother comes amid the ongoing political row in Rajasthan. The Congress, while launching the 'Speak Up For Democracy' campaign on Monday, had accused the Centre of targeting the Opposition using central investigative agencies.

"They use ED, IT and CBI to intimidate those in the Opposition. Bribes are being used to engineer defections and topple the government in Congress-ruled states," the party alleged.

In Rajasthan, the Gehlot government is struggling to retain the numbers to remain in power. The party was hit, at the onset of July, by a rebellion as then deputy CM Sachin Pilot and 18 MLAs openly protested against the Chief Minister.

They shifted base to a hotel in BJP-ruled Haryana, which drew allegations of the saffron party's involvement in the political crisis. Even as Pilot reiterated that he "won't join the BJP", Gehlot claimed that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that he was hobnobbing with the party for last six months in bid to bring down the Congress government in the state.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 28, 2020 11:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).