The Enforcement Directorate has made a startling allegation, claiming that funds derived from alleged corruption within a Delhi Jal Board (DJB) contract were "passed on" as election funds to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). According to a statement by the central agency, incriminating documents, digital evidence, valuables amounting to Rs 1.97 crore, and foreign currency worth Rs 4 lakh were seized during raids conducted in connection with this case on Tuesday.
It had raided the premises of Bibhav Kumar, personal assistant to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, AAP Rajya Sabha MP ND Gupta and some others as part of its money laundering investigation.
What did the ED say?
The agency said that arrested former chief engineer of DJB, Jagdish Kumar Arora, "received" bribe in cash and in bank accounts after awarding a DJB contract to a company called NKG Infrastructure Ltd. and that he passed on this money to various persons managing the affairs at DJB including persons connected with AAP. "Bribe amounts were also passed on as election funds to AAP," it claimed.
Delhi minister Atishi claimed in a press briefing early in the day that the officials of the agency just sat in the living room of Bibhav Kumar and took with them only two Gmail account downloads and three family phones.
What did ED investigation reveal?
ED investigation further revealed that the contract of DJB was awarded at highly inflated rates so that bribes could be collected from the contractors from the inflated cost of the contract. As against the contract value of Rs. 38 Crore, only about Rs 17 Crore was spent towards the contract and the remaining amounts were siphoned off in the guise of various fake expenses. Such fake expenses were booked for bribes and election funds, the statement added.
During the search, various incriminating documents and digital evidence were found and seized. Valuables amounting to Rs. 1.97 Crore and foreign currency equivalent to Rs. 4 lakh have also been seized during the search. The ED had earlier conducted searches in July as well as November 2023 and had seized various digital evidence.
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