Congress demands probe into Akhilesh Das' wealth

Congress on Thursday demanded a thorough probe into the huge wealth amassed by former Union minister Akhilesh Das who owns a chain of educational institutions in Uttar Pradesh.

"The people have the right to know as to how Das was able to amass huge wealth during a short span of 10 to 12 years," Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee spokesman Swadesh Kumar Kori said.

Das had resigned from the Congress as well as from his Rajya Sabha membership on May 6 alleging that a coterie around the party's general secretary Rahul Gandhi was running the organisation.

Kori alleged that Das had left the party only to save himself. "His intention to join the Bahujan Samaj Party is just an attempt to escape government action," he said.

He asked the state government to inquire as to how a hotel owned by Das was operating in a residential area and how
another building owned by him was constructed on agricultural land without the permission of the authorities.

The map of the buildings of his educational institutes have not been approved by the competent authorities and the courses being taught there are not not affiliated, Kori alleged.