ED raids pharma firm also linked to Ashoka university

NEW DELHI: The ED on Friday conducted searches at multiple locations across Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Panchkula against a Chandigarh-based pharmaceutical manufacturer and its promoters in connection with a bank fraud and money laundering investigation.

The probe is based on a CBI FIR that had earlier accused Parabolic Drugs and its promoters Vineet and Pranav Gupta of defrauding public sector banks of Rs 1,600 crore. The Guptas were also known to have been founder donors of Ashoka University, though the latter has denied any connection with the drug manufacturer.

Guptas were among 200 donors of Ashoka University when it was founded and their donations were treated as purely philanthropic acts, according to the university. Soon after the CBI registered an FIR in 2021, the Guptas severed their relations with Ashoka University. The two are among several accused facing probe in a bank cheating case for allegedly defrauding public sector banks, including the Central Bank of India, of over Rs 1,600 crore.

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