ED attacks Arvind Kejriwal's PA and others over DJB kickbacks for AAP
The ED officials searched more than 10 places in New Delhi from 7 am under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
ED raids Delhi CM's PA: While investigating allegations that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had received backhanders worth Rs 17 crore through irregularities in a Delhi Jal Board (DJB) tender, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) searched the premises of the personal assistant of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Bibhav Kumar and others. on Tuesday, official sources said the move is part of a money laundering probe targeting alleged bribes obtained through irregularities in the DJB tender process and allegedly sent as election funds to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). are channeled.
The ED officials searched more than 10 places in New Delhi from 7 am under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Among the places where the federal agency conducted search operations are the residences of Bibhav Kumar, former Delhi assembly member Jal Shalabh Kumar, the office of AAP Rajya Sabha MP and national treasurer ND Gupta, and the premises of Chartered Accountant (CA) Pankaj Mangal. and others associated with the AAP.
Reacting to the ED action, Delhi Minister Atishi accused the authorities of “intimidate” the AAP.
For those unfamiliar, the raids by the probe agency are in connection with a probe into alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) tender process, for which the ED had earlier arrested retired Jal Board chief engineer Jagdish Kumar Arora and contractor Anil Kumar Aggarwal. on January 31.
The money laundering case stemmed from a CBI FIR that alleged corruption and bribery in the Delhi Jal Board, which falls under the district of the Delhi government.
According to the CBI FIR, Jal Board's retired chief engineer Jagdish Kumar Arora awarded contracts to NKG Infrastructure Ltd. for a total amount of Rs 38 crore, despite the fact that the company did not meet the technical eligibility criteria.
The ED alleges that the said company, NKG Infrastructure Ltd., secured the bid by submitting forged documents and the investigation further revealed that the contract was inflated, allowing the incentives to be recovered from the contractors.
The officials also alleged that Arora was aware of the company's non-compliance with technical requirements and claimed that he received the money both in cash and in bank accounts and passed on these alleged kickbacks to Bibhav Kumar, Shalab Kumar, Pankaj Mangal et al. the bribes were also passed on to the AAP as election money.
Of the contract value of Rs 38 crore, only about Rs 17 crore was spent on the tender work, while the remaining funds were allegedly siphoned off in the guise of various bogus expenditures, including bribes and election funds.
Interestingly, the ED raids took place on a day when Atishi claimed at a press conference that the ED had “deleted” audio recordings of witness statements in certain cases, including the excise policy probe involving AAP officials.
The ED has denied the claims and said the agency proposed taking legal action against the Delhi minister and that no recording had been deleted, adding that the audio recording of the interrogations began only in October 2023.
(With PTI inputs)