Smriti Irani asked Arvind Kejriwal if he believes Satyendar Jain keeps no black money. (File)
Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday launched a fresh attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, seeking his reply on his colleague Satyendar Jain, who is in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case.
She said she posed several questions to Mr Kejriwal in this regard on June 1, including one on whether he thinks Mr Jain is not involved in alleged theft.
"Does Kejriwal believe that Satyendar Jain keeps no black money? Does he believe that he's innocent? I have not received the reply to any of my questions yet till June 8," Ms Irani told news agency ANI.
Ms Irani claimed that the ED had recovered around Rs 2.8 crore in cash and 133 gold coins weighing over 1 kg from the residence of Mr Jain and his aides.
"Kejriwal had said that he checked the papers himself," she said and asked if the Chief Minister had not checked the huge amount of cash (allegedly) possessed by Mr Jain.
"Did he not check such quantity of gold as well as the illegal property?" she asked.
The minister further asked whether Mr Kejriwal checked the order of the Delhi High Court on how Satyendar Jain collected Rs 16 crore black money with the help of shell companies and Hawala operators.
Her attack came as the ED on Tuesday claimed to have seized Rs 2.85 crore cash and 133 gold coins weighing 1.80 kg from Mr Jain's aides during its day-long raids conducted a day ago.
During Monday's raids, the ED said, it seized various incriminating documents and digital records.
The ED said that the total movable assets were seized from an "unexplained source" and were "found to be secreted" in the raided premises.
The assets were seized during a search operation carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 at the premises of Satyendar Jain, his wife Poonam Jain, and his accomplices and other persons who had either directly or indirectly assisted him or participated in the processes of money laundering.
The federal agency's separate teams had carried out the searches at six places in Delhi, including the residence of Mr Jain, and one in Gurgaon.
The move comes days after Mr Jain was arrested on May 30. Mr Jain is in ED custody till June 9.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)