BREAKING: ED Searches Premises of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's PS Bibhav Kumar

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday searched premises of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's personal secretary Bibhav Kumar and some persons connected to the Aam Aadmi Party as part of a money laundering probe, official sources said.

About 10 premises in the national capital are being covered as part of the raids. It was not immediately clear if the searches were part of an ongoing money laundering investigation or in connection with a fresh case, they said.

The locations of Bibhav Kumar and former Delhi Jal Board member Shalabh Kumar apart from some others are being covered by the officials of the central agency. 

The ED action comes on a day when Delhi cabinet minister Atishi had said she will do an ‘explosive expose’ on the agency. "I will be doing an explosive expose on ED at 10am tomorrow! Watch this space #BigEDExposebyAAP," she said in a post on X on Monday. Her Cabinet colleague, Saurabh Bharadwaj, also posted on X about it. "Big expose on BJP's Extortion Department (ED)," Bharadwaj said.

Addressing a press conference, Atishi on Tuesday claimed that the ED 'deleted' audio recording of witness statements in certain cases, including the excise policy probe, being investigated against AAP functionaries. The minister challenged the agency to produce them in front of the court and the country.

Atishi charged that the latest raids on AAP leaders were being carried out to 'scare' the party. She said that the searches were being carried out at the residence of Gupta and his personal assistant apart from the PA of CM Kejriwal.

Delhi Jal Board Corruption Case

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Jagdish Kumar Arora and Anil Kumar Aggarwal on January 31, 2024 in connection with money laundering investigations initiated under the Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMLA) 2002 in the Delhi Jal Board Corruption Case. Jagdish Kumar Arora and Anil Kumar Aggarwal were produced before the Special Court on February 1, 2024. The Court has granted ED custody till February 5, 2024.

ED initiated investigations on the basis of FIR registered by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which contained scheduled offences related to corruption/bribery in Delhi Jal Board (DJB). The FIR alleged that Jagdish Kumar Arora [the then Chief Engineer, DJB] awarded certain contract in Delhi Jal Board to M/s NKG Infrastructure Ltd. for total cost of Rs 38,02,33,080 despite the fact that the company did not meet the technical eligibility criteria.

ED investigation revealed that M/s NKG Infrastructure Ltd obtained the bid by submitting forged/ fake/false documents. Jagdish Kumar Arora, the then Chief Engineer, Delhi Jal Boad was aware of the fact that the company does not meet the technical eligibility criteria for sanctioning of the tender for SITC of Electromagnetic flow meter. M/s NKG Infrastructure Ltd sub-contracted the work to M/s Integral Screws Ltd, a proprietorship firm of Anil Kumar Aggarwal. On receipt of funds, Anil Kumar Aggarwal transferred the bribe amount approx. 3 Crores to Jagdish Kumar Arora through cash and bank accounts. Investigations further show that bank accounts of close associates of Jagdish Kumar Arora and their relatives were used to transfer the bribe amounts. The close associate of Jagdish Kumar Arora also received bribe in cash.

ED had earlier conducted search operations on July 24, 2023 and November 17, 2023 which resulted in seizure of incriminating documents and evidences.