Delhi minister R K Anand latest in list of senior AAP leaders under scanner of central probe agencies

New Delhi: Delhi minister Raj Kumar Anand, whose premises were searched by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case on Thursday, joins a long list of senior AAP leaders, including party supremo and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who are under the scanner of central agencies in different cases.

Arvind Kejriwal Kejriwal was called by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning on Thursday in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam. He skipped the ED summons, saying it was "politically motivated" and done at the behest of the BJP to prevent him from campaigning in the poll-bound states. In December 2015, Kejriwal had claimed his office at the Delhi secretariat was raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CBI denied that Kejriwal's office was searched. The raid in a corruption case was carried out at the chief minister's principal secretary at the Delhi secretariat. After the CBI raid at the secretariat, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor had famously said the investigating agency would find nothing but a few mufflers even if it searched his residence.

Manish Sisodia Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26 for his alleged role in the excise policy "scam".

After he was made an accused in the case, the CBI conducted searches at his official residence, his village and looked into his bank lockers. The CBI case pertains to alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the excise policy 2021-22 of the AAP government, which was subsequently scrapped. Sisodia, who was then deputy chief minister of Delhi and held the excise portfolio, resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28. The ED arrested him in a money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9 after questioning him in Tihar jail. His bail plea was rejected by the Supreme Court earlier this week.

Satyendar Jain Jain, then holding important portfolios such as Health, Home, Power and Urban Development in the Delhi government, was arrested by the ED on May 30, 2022 under charges of money laundering linked to a hawala dealings case. Days after his arrest, the ED on June 6, 2022, conducted raids including at Jain's residence as part of "follow-up" in the case. Jain spent nearly one year behind bars before being granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in May this year in view of his poor health. He is currently recovering after a surgery and his bail has been extended multiple times by the court.

Sanjay Singh A vocal leader of the party and Rajya Sabha MP, Singh was arrested by the ED last month in the money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam. He was arrested by the agency after hours-long search at his residence in North Avenue.

Kailash Gahlot Way back in 2018, Income Tax Department teams raided multiple premises, including the residence of Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot. The searches were conducted as part of a tax evasion probe against two companies allegedly operated and owned by the minister's family members.

Amanatullah Khan Khan, the AAP MLA from Okhla, has been under the scanner of the CBI and the ED in recent years. ED sleuths knocked on the doors of Khan on October 14 for a search as part of a money laundering probe against him and others. The MLA who was chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board was booked by the CBI in a case of alleged irregularities in recruitment at the board in 2016. In March this year, he was grilled by the CBI in the case for hours. Recently, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena granted the CBI sanction to prosecute Khan in the case.

Vijay Nair The CBI arrested Nair, a businessman and AAP communications in-charge, in September 27 last year in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam case. Nair was arrested for his alleged role in "cartelisation" and "conspiracy" related to alleged irregularities in the allocation of liquor licence in the national capital.

Raj Kumar Anand Anand, who was inducted into the Delhi Cabinet in November last year, became the latest minister to face the ED heat. The residence of the social welfare minister was raided by the ED on Thursday as part of a money laundering investigation. The investigation stems from a charge sheet filed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on charges of false declarations in imports for customs evasion of more than Rs 7 crore apart from international hawala transactions, official sources said.