NEW DELHI, Feb 6:
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday searched some premises of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s private assistant Bibhav Kumar and others as a part of its probe into expenses that the AAP obtained kickbacks of Rs 17 crore by means of “irregularities” in a Delhi Jal Board tender, official sources mentioned.
This motion is a part of a cash laundering investigation specializing in alleged bribes that had been garnered by means of irregularities within the DJB tendering course of and purportedly channelled as election funds to the Aam Aadmi Social gathering (AAP), the officers mentioned.
A dozen premises within the nationwide capital had been searched by the federal company’s officers from 7 am underneath the Prevention of Cash Laundering Act (PMLA).
The residences of Bibhav Kumar, former Delhi Jal Board member Shalabh Kumar, the workplace of get together Rajya Sabha MP and nationwide treasurer N D Gupta, and the premises of Chartered Accountant (CA) Pankaj Mangal and others related to the ruling get together in Delhi had been lined within the search motion.
In response to the raids, Delhi Minister Atishi accused the authorities of trying to “intimidate” the AAP.
These searches are associated to an investigation regarding alleged irregularities within the tendering strategy of the Delhi Jal Board, for which the ED had beforehand arrested retired Jal Board chief engineer Jagdish Kumar Arora and contractor Anil Kumar Aggarwal on January 31.
Following the ED’s assertion that additional custodial interrogation was essential to uncover a “bigger conspiracy,” a particular PMLA court docket had prolonged their remand by 5 days on Monday.
The cash laundering case originated from a CBI FIR that alleged corruption and bribery within the Delhi Jal Board of the Delhi authorities.
The FIR alleged that Arora awarded contracts to NKG Infrastructure Ltd. For a complete value of Rs 38 crore, regardless of the corporate’s failure to fulfill the technical eligibility standards.
ED officers claimed that NKG Infrastructure Ltd. Secured the bid by submitting cast paperwork.
The probe additional indicated that the contract was inflated, permitting kickbacks to be collected again from the contractors.
Arora is alleged to have been “conscious” of the truth that the corporate doesn’t meet the technical eligibility, the officers mentioned, claiming that he obtained “bribe” quantities each in money and financial institution accounts and handed these alleged kickbacks to Bibhav Kumar, Shalab Kumar, Pankaj Mangal and others.
The kickbacks, based on the officers, had been additionally handed on as election funds to the AAP.
An evaluation by the ED claimed that out of the contract worth of Rs 38 crore, solely about Rs 17 crore was spent on the tender work, with the remaining funds allegedly siphoned off underneath the guise of varied false bills, together with bribes and election funds.
The raids got here on a day Atishi claimed in a press convention that the ED had “deleted” audio recordings of witness statements in sure circumstances, together with the excise coverage probe involving AAP functionaries, a cost denied by the federal company.
The ED officers mentioned the company was proposing to take authorized motion towards the Delhi Minister and that no footage was deleted. It mentioned audio recording of interrogation started solely in October 2023. (PTI)
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