The Congress on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi whether he would ensure a fair investigation into the operations of Vinod Adani, brother of Gautam Adani, after fresh revelations appeared to contradict the attempts to delink him from the Adani group.

“Now we learn that a letter of March 18, 2020, from the Adani group to the Registrar of Companies in Ahmedabad said that: ‘Mr Vinod S. Adani, promoter of the company, has informed change in significant beneficial interest…,’” Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said.

“This letter was signed by the Adani Enterprises company secretary and joint president (legal), Jatin Jalundhwala, and clearly shows Vinod Adani to be a key player in Adani group affairs.”

Ramesh asked Modi: “Will this hard evidence finally lead India’s all-powerful agencies to investigate the allegations of round-tripping and money-laundering by Vinod Adani’s offshore shell companies? Or will you continue to protect your close friend...?”

The Adani group had, in a written response to allegations of shell firms involving VinodAdani investing into its companies, distanced itself from him.

The Congress had on February 19 claimed that the Adani group had filed various memorandums with stock exchanges stating that “AdaniGroup means SB Adani Family Trust, Adani Properties Private Limited, Adani TradelineLLP, Gautam Adani, Rajesh Adani, Vinod S Adani…”.

Ramesh on Tuesday said: “Five investment funds linked to Vinod Adani’s close associate Jayechand Jingree — Belgrave Investment Fund, Coeus Global Opportunities Fund, Aviator Global Investment Fund, Resonance Opportunities and Ayushmat — accounted for 11.3 per cent of anchor investor subscriptions in the Rs 20,000 crore Adani Follow-On Public Offer (FPO) that ultimately failed.”