ED raids premises linked to AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj; party calls it 'diversionary tactic'

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday searched the premises of former Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and others as part of a money laundering probe linked to an alleged scam in health infrastructure projects during the previous AAP government in the national capital, official sources said.

At least 13 locations, including those of some private contractors and commercial real estate developers in the National Capital Region, are being searched under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.

Bharadwaj (45), who is also the Delhi AAP unit chief and national spokesperson of the party, is under investigation in connection with a case registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of Delhi in June.

Reacting to the raids, the AAP termed the ED action a “diversionary tactic” and claimed the case against Bharadwaj is false. “The raids are a diversionary tactic. The case pertains to the time when Bharadwaj was not holding any ministerial post. The case is false,” senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia said.

The ACB had booked Bharadwaj, his party colleague and former health minister Satyendar Jain, private contractors and unknown government officials for alleged corruption in health infrastructure projects during the AAP government led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. After the FIR was filed, the AAP accused central agencies of being misused to target its leaders.

The ACB complaint followed allegations by the Delhi BJP in August last year of “grave irregularities and suspected corruption” in various health infrastructure projects under the Delhi government. It alleged “systematic manipulation of project budgets, misuse of public funds and collusion with private contractors”.

According to ACB officials, during 2018-19, 24 hospital projects worth ₹5,590 crore were sanctioned, but they remained largely incomplete, with substantial and unexplained cost escalations. Similarly, the ₹1,125-crore ICU hospital project, covering seven pre-engineered facilities with a total of 6,800 beds, is only 50 per cent complete after nearly three years and expenditure of ₹800 crore, despite an initial six-month completion timeline.

ED officials said the searches are based on material collected during the course of investigation and allegations in the FIR regarding large-scale corruption, unjustified cost escalations, unauthorised constructions and misappropriation of funds in health infrastructure projects of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD).