Cash to Ash puts on ED alert

Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai might need more divine blessings especially with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) now launching an investigation against her after customs officials in Mumbai had seized a shipment addressed to her that was found to contain a large sum of euros last week.

The parcel - mailed from Rotterdam in Netherlands - reached Aishwarya's residence in November. Electronic items in the packet were declared to Customs, but a small packet filled with currency notes carefully tucked between other items was not.

The parcel carrying the actor's name arrived at the Foreign Post Office in Mumbai around September end. Besides the currency, it also contained a top-brand shirt, a pair of binoculars, a DVD player and other electronic items.

Custom officials after questioning Aishwarya and her father Krishna Raj Rai gave the actor a clean chit, but the issue has again cropped up, with the ED now examining whether there has been a violation of the Money Laundering Act or the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

This has now raised a few political questions, in view of the strained relationship between the country's most powerful political family - that of the Gandhis - and India's biggest superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

Is this an effort to further embarrass Big B by Asihwarya under the scanner? After all, these days, she is often seen in company of junior Bachchan.

Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh said law should be equal for all. Singh said he was sure that Aishwarya was innocent. "Kar nahi to dar nahi," he said. (If you are not guilty, don't be afraid.)

Congress MP Rajeev Shukla said his party has nothing to do with the matter.

And while the ED cannot arrest Aishwarya even if found guilty under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, the Prevention of Money Laundering Act can be used for much more stringent action against the guilty.