Trader Who Gifted Piggy Bank to Rahul Gandhi Dies by Suicide With Wife After ED Raid
A businessman from Shanti Nagar in Ashta, Madhya Pradesh, Manoj Parmar, and his wife were found hanging dead several days after the ED had raided their residence. He had become a known personality when his children handed a piggy bank to Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. A suicide note was recovered, wherein he had held the ED responsible for harassment and alleged it was targeting him for his pro-Congress stance.
Suicide Note Claims
In the suicide note, Manoj blames ED officials for abusive and intimidating behavior during the raid, and even threatened his family with legal pressure. He alleged that the officials had told his family members that the legal pressure would be eased if they joined the BJP. The note further expresses despair over repeated legal cases since 2017, with trials running simultaneously in the Sessions Court of Ashta and the CBI Court of Bhopal.
बहुत दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण !! इसकी सम्पूर्ण जाँच होनी चाहिए। एजेंसीज की वर्किंग पे संसद में डिबेट ज़रूर होना चाहिए। अधिकारियों को प्रताड़ित करने का अधिकार किसने दिया है ?? ज़रूरत पड़ी तो न्याय यिक जाँच की दरखास्त हाई कोर्ट और सुप्रीम कोर्ट से भी लग सकती है। बहुत दुखद।
— Vivek Tankha (@VTankha) December 13, 2024
Political Reactions
The incident has triggered political furor, with Madhya Pradesh Congress leaders, including state party chief Jitu Patwari and senior leader Digvijaya Singh, raising the demand for a free and fair investigation. While Patwari described their deaths as "state-sponsored murder," he targeted BJP and ED for driving Manoj and his wife to commit suicides. Singh, in his statement, said that ED was acting politically and demanded a fair inquiry in the matter.
