Intense friction between the Central probe agency, the ED, and the AAP-led Delhi Government escalated on Tuesday with fresh rounds of raids at premises linked to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s personal staff, Bibhav Kumar, and others. ED sources said these raids are part of its probe into charges that the AAP and some officials received kickbacks of `21 crore from a Delhi Jal Board contractor. The agency searched 10 locations linked to the personal secretary as part of its money laundering probe in the DJB case.

A dozen premises in the national capital were searched by officials of the federal agency from 7 am under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The residences of Bibhav Kumar, former Delhi Jal Board member Shalabh Kumar, the office of party Rajya Sabha MP and national treasurer N D Gupta, and the premises of Chartered Accountant (CA) Pankaj Mangal, along with others associated with the ruling party in Delhi, were covered in the search action.

Reacting to the raids, AAP leader Atishi claimed the BJP government is trying to scare its leaders. Addressing a press conference, Atishi accused the ED of “deleting” audio recordings of CCTV interrogations in the excise policy case. ED sources have refuted the charge. Atishi made the allegations against the agency at a press conference and called the entire probe a “scam” in itself. She cited a 2020 order of the Supreme Court and said it was mandatory for investigating agencies to have audio-visual CCTV footage of interrogations.

Meanwhile, ED sources refuted claims that audio recordings were “deleted” from the statement of an accused in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case, adding that the agency will take “legal recourse” against the minister for leveling such allegations. They said the footage was recorded in a video-only format during interrogation as the CCTV system did not have an audio recording facility at the time. Audio recordings were added to the video capturing system of the ED interrogation process only in October last year, the sources said. The ED officials said the agency was proposing to take legal action against the Delhi minister and that no footage was deleted. They stated that audio recording of interrogations began only in October 2023.

In a statement, AAP said the ED has planted an informal and unsigned “statement” in the media. “If ED is clean, let them issue a formal signed statement on their letterhead. The informal and unsigned statement issued by ED is full of wrong and false assertions, and we urge the media not to publish it until ED issues a formal statement. Once ED does that, we will issue a counter statement to show how it is false.

At a press conference, Atishi said raids were being conducted by the ED at the premises of Kumar and Gupta since 7 am. There are reports that the probe agency will conduct raids on the premises of other AAP leaders throughout the day, she claimed. “Yesterday, I posted on Twitter about doing a big expose on the ED today. In response, to threaten AAP and silence the party, the ED has been raiding the residences of people related to the Aam Aadmi Party since 7 am today,” Atishi said.

The ED officials said the agency was proposing to take legal action against the Delhi minister and that no footage was deleted. It said audio recording of interrogation began only in October 2023.

These searches are related to an investigation concerning alleged irregularities in the tendering process of the Delhi Jal Board, for which the ED had previously arrested retired Jal Board chief engineer Jagdish Kumar Arora and contractor Anil Kumar Aggarwal on January 31. Following the ED’s assertion that further custodial interrogation was necessary to uncover a “larger conspiracy,” a special PMLA court had extended their remand by five days on Monday.

The money laundering case originated from a CBI FIR that alleged corruption and bribery in the Delhi Jal Board of the Delhi government. The FIR alleged that Arora awarded contracts to NKG Infrastructure Ltd. For a total cost of Rs 38 crore, despite the company’s failure to meet the technical eligibility criteria.

ED officials claimed that NKG Infrastructure Ltd. secured the bid by submitting forged documents. The probe further indicated that the contract was inflated, allowing kickbacks to be collected back from the contractors.

An analysis by the ED claimed that out of the contract value of Rs 38 crore, only about Rs 17 crore was spent on the tender work, with the remaining funds allegedly siphoned off under the guise of various false expenses, including bribes and election funds.