Punjab CM Mann condemns ED action against AAP’s Saurabh

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday condemned the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids against AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj and claimed it was done to divert attention from discussions about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s degree.

Earlier in the day, the ED searched the premises of AAP Delhi unit chief Bharadwaj, some private contractors and commercial real estate developers as part of a money laundering probe linked to an alleged scam in health infrastructure projects during the previous Arvind Kejriwal government in the national capital, official sources said.

At least 13 locations in the National Capital Region were searched under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.

“Today a raid was conducted against Saurabh Bharadwaj because since yesterday, there has been a discussion in the whole country that Modi ji’s degree is fake. This raid has been carried out to divert attention from it,” Mann said in a post on X.

“(AAP leader) Satyendar Jain ji was also kept in jail for three years, and later CBI and ED filed a closure report in the court. It is clear from this that all the cases filed against Aam Aadmi Party leaders are fake and false,” said Mann.

The ED investigation against Bharadwaj (45) stems from an FIR registered by Delhi’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) in June.

The ACB booked Bharadwaj, his party colleague and ex-health minister Satyendar Jain, private contractors and unknown government officials for alleged corruption in health infrastructure projects by the previous AAP government led by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The BJP said the Enforcement Directorate’s raids against AAP Delhi unit chief and former health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj have exposed the “medical scam” under the previous Arvind Kejriwal government.

The AAP government in Delhi was involved in the “scam” in the construction of hospitals and purchase of medicines and equipment.

An investigation into the “scam” in purchase of medicines is already being conducted by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said in a video statement.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is searching the premises of Bharadwaj and some private contractors as part of a money laundering probe linked to an alleged scam in health infrastructure projects during the previous AAP government in Delhi, official sources said.

At least 13 locations in the National Capital Region are being searched under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, they said.

“We have said it earlier also that the previous AAP government led by Arvind Kejriwal looted Delhi through scams.

Now the party is trying to fool people in other states,” Sachdeva said.