New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Deepak Singla following searches at multiple premises linked to him and several others in connection with an alleged bank fraud-linked money laundering case.
Raids were conducted at locations in Delhi and Goa associated with Singla and certain alleged hawala operators, after which Singla was arrested.
According to sources, investigators suspect that Singla was involved in handling hawala-based fund transfers between Delhi and Goa for the AAP.
Sources further alleged that Singla, along with his uncle Ashok Kumar Mittal, brother Raman Singla, and Harish Singla, defrauded the Oriental Bank of Commerce of more than Rs 150 crore.
The probe agency suspects that the funds were routed to firms controlled in Singapore and that portions of the alleged proceeds of crime were later brought back into India through hawala channels for use in illegal activities.
Based on these allegations and the ongoing investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the ED arrested Singla on Monday.
Reacting to the ED action, senior AAP leader and former Delhi Chief Minister claimed that the BJP was misusing central agencies for political purposes.
In a video message posted on X, Atishi said: “Even ED raids won’t be able to save the BJP in Goa.”
She alleged that the BJP had similarly used the ED against the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress during elections in West Bengal.
“The whole nation saw how the BJP used the ED against the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. The agency targeted Trinamool Congress leaders during the elections and several party workers were sent to jail,” she said.
Atishi further alleged that the ED was used to access organisational data linked to Trinamool Congress and claimed that many leaders who later joined the BJP did not face further action.
Meanwhile, another AAP leader and Punjab Minister, Sanjeev Arora, was produced before a Haryana court on Monday and sent to 14 days’ judicial custody. He is scheduled to be produced before the court again on June 1.
Arora was arrested by the ED in Chandigarh on May 9 under provisions of the PMLA in connection with an alleged GST fraud case linked to a company he headed. However, he has denied all allegations and asserted that the company’s mobile-phone export operations complied fully with applicable laws.
AAP national convener and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal extended support to Arora in a post on X, saying, “Sanjiv ji, you are brave. You are patriotic. The whole of Punjab is proud of you.”
(IANS)
