New Delhi: Leaders of Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party have received funds from the Jal Board scam, the Enforcement Directorate has said after conducting raids on 12 locations connected to the leaders. The money, the Central agency said, was used by AAP as election funds. In a statement, AAP said it condemns the agency's "blatantly false allegation that AAP or its leaders have anything to do with this case".
This is the second case in which the central agencies accused AAP of taking kickbacks and using the money for elections. Earlier they claimed bribes from the scrapped Delhi excise policy was used by the party for campaigning in the Goa assembly elections.
The agency said it has seized many objectionable documents and digital evidence during yesterday's searches in Delhi, Varanasi and Chandigarh.
Goods worth Rs 1.97 crore and foreign currency worth Rs 4 lakh have been seized, the agency said.
Officials said then Delhi Jal Board Chief Engineer Jagdish Arora had given contracts worth Rs 38 crore to MS NKG Infrastructure, despite knowing the company did not fulfil the technical eligibility criteria. He had also sent the money to AAP leaders, the official said.
The ED arrested Arora and a contractor named Anil Kumar Aggarwal in this case on January 31. They are in its custody till February 10.
In its statement, AAP said it condemns any wrongdoing by DJB officials or contractors, if proven true. But "not a single penny or piece of evidence has been recovered from the AAP leaders who were raided yesterday by ED," read the party statement.
"By yet again naming AAP without any evidence, ED has proven it is nothing but a mouthpiece of the BJP. We will take legal action against the ED for defaming AAP," the party added.
"It's clear that the Modi government is a big believer in Hitler's ideology, "If you repeat a lie a thousand times, people will start believing in it," the statement read.
The agency has raided the premises of Bibhav Kumar, personal assistant to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, AAP Rajya Sabha MP ND Gupta, former DJB member Shalabh Kumar, chartered accountant Pankaj Mangal and some others as part of this ongoing money laundering investigation.