New Delhi: Enforcement Directorate raids Aam Aadmi Party Minister Raaj Kumar Anand

New Delhi : The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday raided the premises of Delhi Cabinet Minister and AAP leader Raaj Kumar Anand as part of a money laundering investigation, official sources said.

The premises of the minister in the Civil Lines area and a few other locations are being searched, they said. The ED search teams are escorted by a team of the CRPF. Anand, 57, is the minister for social welfare and SC/ST welfare among others in the Arvind Kejriwal-led government. He is an MLA from Patel Nagar. PTI NES The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday said the ED raids are an attempt by the BJP to silence opposition leaders ahead of the LoK Sabha elections.

The party was reacting to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids at the premises of Delhi Cabinet Minister and AAP leader Raaj Kumar Anand and some others as part of a money laundering probe, official sources said. In a video message, AAP leader and cabinet minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said even during the British reign, police would go to court to seek permission for conducting raids. “But today ED decides to conduct raids on its own. This is a conspiracy to silence the voices of opposition. This is how the BJP can win 2024 Lok Sabha polls because otherwise, it is decided that are not coming back after the polls,” he said.

However, Delhi BJP secretary Harish Khurana said the ED action is as per law. “We have been saying it for years that Kejriwal and his ministers are involved in scams. The ED action is going on as per law. Its learnt that the raid is related to some hawala and customs related probe,” he said.