ED raids over dozen locations associated with AAP; political vendetta, alleges Atishi

NEW DELHI, FEB 6 (IANS) — The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted raids on around a dozen locations in Delhi associated with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP N D Gupta, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s personal secretary Bibhav Kumar, former Delhi Jal Board (DJB) member Shalabh Kumar and several others.

The raids are part of an ongoing investigation into a money laundering case connected to the issuance of purportedly illegal DJB contracts valued at over INR 30 crore, as per sources.

Sources close to the matter revealed that the ED’s probe is centred on the alleged irregularities in the awarding of DJB contracts for various projects.

This development comes hot on the heels of the ED filing a complaint against Chief Minister Kejriwal, who has repeatedly skipped summons related to the Delhi liquor policy case.

On February 3, a day after Kejriwal skipped the ED summons for the fifth time, a complaint was filed against him at the city’s Rouse Avenue court before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Divya Malhotra. The matter is listed on February 7.

In response to the raids and the legal actions against AAP leaders, senior AAP leader and Delhi Minister Atishi held a Press conference on Tuesday alleging political vendetta. “For the last two years, AAP leaders are being targeted and threatened,” she claimed.

“ED, in the last two years, has not been able to recover even a single rupee and has not found any concrete evidence,” she said.

Atishi further accused the BJP of attempting to suppress the AAP through central agencies and asserted that the party would not be intimidated.

As per sources, the ED’s investigation in Tuesday raids encompasses two separate matters involving irregularities in DJB’s tendering process, stemming from an FIR filed by the CBI and the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Delhi government.

The CBI’s FIR registered in July 2022, alleged “undue advantage” given to NKG Infrastructure Limited in awarding a tender for electro-magnetic flow metres. The second allegation, originating from the ACB complaint, revolves around a tender for setting up automotive bill payment collection machines in DJB offices.