New Delhi: AAP Criticizes ED Following Latest Seizures and Allegations
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday strongly criticized the Enforcement Directorate (ED), alleging that the agency could “file a case on how the party’s leaders are breathing.”
These remarks followed the ED’s announcement of seizing Rs 41 lakh in cash, along with “incriminating” documents and digital devices during searches related to a money laundering case. The case involves alleged corruption in the augmentation of several sewage treatment plants (STPs) by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).
The raids, conducted on July 3, spanned multiple locations in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and Hyderabad, according to an official statement from the ED.
Delhi Minister Atishi accused the ED of acting under the influence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “The operations of the Enforcement Directorate, its targets, and the motivations behind its actions are well known. Everyone has observed the BJP’s ‘washing machine’ approach, evident in the cases involving Ajit Pawar and his family. Whether it is the sugar cooperative case or the irrigation scam, the ED filed closure reports once they joined the BJP,” Atishi stated.
The money laundering investigation originates from an FIR by the Delhi government’s anti-corruption branch (ACB) against Euroteck Environmental Pvt Ltd and others, alleging a scam in the DJB concerning the augmentation and upgradation of 10 STPs. These projects, located at Pappankala, Nilothi (Package 1), Najafgarh, Keshopur (Package 2), Coronation Pillar, Narela, Rohini (Package 3), and Kondli (Package 4), involved tenders valued at Rs 1,943 crore, awarded to various joint venture entities in October 2022.
Atishi further highlighted the selective closure of cases involving BJP members, mentioning the closure of the ‘Hydro Power Scam’ case against Himanta Biswa Sarma after he became the Chief Minister of the BJP. She also pointed out ongoing investigations into the ‘liquor scam,’ construction of classrooms, and mohalla clinics, where no evidence was found.
AAP reiterated its stance against what it described as the BJP’s dictatorial practices. “The ED has only registered a case in the Delhi Jal Board. The Health Department, Education Department, and Flood Department remain. If there were a department for breathing, the ED would file a case on how AAP members are breathing,” Atishi charged.
