New Delhi: The Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi on Monday granted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) 24-hour transit remand of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Deepak Singla after the central agency produced him before the court and sought his custody for further proceedings, sources said.
Earlier on Monday, the ED arrested 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 linked to Singla and certain alleged hawala operators, following which he was taken into custody.
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 through firms controlled from Singapore and that portions of the alleged proceeds of crime were later brought back to 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 Atishi alleged that the BJP was misusing central agencies for political purposes.
In a video message posted on X, Atishi said: “Even ED raids will not 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 country 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 the 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 headed by him. However, he has denied all allegations and maintained that the company’s mobile phone export operations fully complied with applicable laws.
AAP national convener and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal extended support to Arora in a post on X, saying: “… you are brave. You are patriotic. The whole of Punjab is proud of you.”
(IANS)
