Two days after raids were conducted at the residences of Punjab’s top excise officials in connection with the ‘Delhi excise policy scam’, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday raided five premises linked to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Amargarh Jaswant Singh Gajjanmajra in Malerkotla district.
The raids came four months after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had conducted raids at Gajjanmajra’s premises in connection with Rs 40-crore loan default in May.
The ED, on September 6 (Tuesday), had raided the residences of Punjab Excise Commissioner and Joint Commissioner in connection with the Delhi “excise policy scam.”
Accompanied by paramilitary security forces, the ED teams carried out raids at a school and cattle-feed factory run by the MLA’s family in Malerkotla — including Tara Haveli in Dhuri, Tara Convent School in Malerkotla, Tara Golden Homes in Gaunspura, Tara Feeds in Jitewal.
Notably, Gajjanmajra has several business interests, and runs three schools and a college.
It has been learnt that the raids were conducted in the matter of bank fraud, in which CBI is already carrying out investigations. A case has been registered against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The central probing agency, on May 7, had raided the MLA’s properties in connection to the Rs 40.92 crore bank fraud case. The CBI had then recovered nearly 88 foreign currency notes, Rs 16.57 lakh (approximately) cash, property documents, bank accounts details, and other incriminating documents during the raids.
The probe was initiated after a case was filed on a complaint from Bank of India in Ludhiana against a private firm based in Gaunspura, tehsil-Malerkotla (Punjab) and others, including directors, guarantors of the company, another private firm and some unknown public servants.
The Bank alleged that through its directors, the firm had concealed “hypothecated stock and diverted book debts with malafide and dishonest intention so that the same were not made available to the creditor bank for inspection and for effecting recovery as secured creditor”—causing the Bank to incur a loss of approximately Rs 40.02 crore.
It was also alleged that the loan availed by the accused has not been utilised for the purpose for which it was taken.
AAP ALLEGES POLITICAL VENDETTA
The ruling AAP on Thursday alleged a “political vendetta” behind the raids on the MLA. “The ED is targeting AAP leaders because the BJP can see their weakness in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and are therefore upset…Even in the Haryana bypoll, things are not rosy for the BJP. So they are targeting AAP. It is nothing but vendetta politics,” said AAP’s chief spokesperson Malwinder Singh Kang.