The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday carried out searches at the premises of Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party legislator Raaj Kumar Anand, 57, in connection with a money laundering probe, people familiar the matter said.
The people said the searches spanned 12 locations, including Anand’s residence in the Civil Lines area. Officials said searches were carried out against him as part of a probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), based on a charge sheet filed by the Directorate of Revenue and Intelligence (DRI).
DRI has alleged that Anand made false declarations in the import of certain items, leading to a customs evasion of more than ₹7 crore. The federal agencies are also investigating certain hawala transactions.
The officials cited above said a local court took cognisance of the DRI prosecution complaint (or charge sheet), following which ED filed a PMLA case against Anand and others.
The federal anti-money laundering agency is currently examining the DRI case documents, said an officer.
Responding to the raids, AAP Delhi convenor Gopal Rai said, “No notice, no case, suddenly a raid took place. What are you trying to do? You are trying to murder democracy by making puppets out of the country’s agencies.”
The BJP ,meanwhile, noted that Anand is the second Delhi minister after Satyendar Jain to be raided by ED.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said, “CM Kejriwal once said I won’t let one tainted MLA sit in the assembly, and today, the situation is such that he will have to terminate the membership of almost all his MLAs and resign himself too.”
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!” Click here!
