THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, Feb 6: As part of a money laundering investigation into alleged anomalies in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the Enforcement Directorate raided the premises of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s personal assistant, Bibhav Kumar, and a few individuals associated with the Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday, official sources stated.
Raids conducted in accordance with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) are covering around 10 to 12 locations in the nation’s capital.
The central agency officers are covering, among other places, the locations of Bibhav Kumar, Shalabh Kumar, a former member of the Delhi Jal Board, the office of party MP in the Rajya Sabha and national treasurer N D Gupta.
The money laundering case
The raids are related to an investigation into alleged anomalies in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) tendering procedure, where retired chief engineer Jagdish Kumar Arora and contractor Anil Kumar Aggarwal were arrested by the ED last week.
The criminal case is based on a FIR from the CBI and the Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), and the ED is looking into two different cases of anomalies in the DJB’s tendering process.
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According to the CBI FIR, NKG Infrastructure Limited was given “undue advantage” by DJB authorities when the company was awarded a tender for the supply, installation, testing, and commissioning of electro-magnetic flow meters, allegedly in collusion with NBCC (India) Limited officials.
The second accusation relates to the November 2022 ACB complaint, in which it is alleged that the DJB granted a contract to install automotive bill payment collection devices, or kiosks, in its various offices in order to assist customers with bill payment.
On Monday, a special PMLA court extended the custody of retired chief engineer Jagdish Kumar Arora and contractor Anil Kumar Aggarwal by an additional five days following the Enforcement Directorate’s assertion that further questioning was necessary to uncover the bigger plot behind the alleged conspiracy.
