Ahmedabad: On 27th November The Enforcement Directorate said they have arrested PVS Sarma, the director of Sanket Media Pvt Ltd, in connection with a money laundering case. Sarma has been arrested in connection with alleged irregularities and fudging of circulation. Sanket media is a private media organisation based in surat, Gujarat. Sanket media publish newspaper “satyam time” in two languages which is Gujarati and English.
Following the arrest, Sarma was produced before the Special Court (PMLA), Ahmedabad and the Special Judge granted his custody to the ED till 2nd December.
The ED had initiated investigation under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on the basis of FIR registered by Gujarat State Police (Umra Police Station, Surat) under Indian Penal Code Sections relating to cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy pursuant to investigation conducted by the Income Tax Department against PVS Sarma and his Company.
“Investigation revealed that Sanket Media Pvt. Ltd. is involved in printing and publishing the newspaper Satyam Times in both Gujarati and English language. That, though the circulation of the newspapers were shown at 23,500 and 6000-6,300 copies daily for the Gujarati and English editions respectively, actual circulation was only around 300-600 and 0-290 for Gujrati and English respectively,” the ED said in a statement.