ED stole documents, threatened family: AAP's Saurabh Bhardwaj on raids at his house

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s unit chief, Saurabh Bharadwaj, slammed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday, a day after the investigative agency carried out raids on multiple premises linked to him. The raids were part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of money laundering aimed at Bharadwaj.

While speaking at a press conference, Bharadwaj termed the case as false and accused Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena of conspiring to frame him.

The central agency on Tuesday carried out raids at a total of 13 locations across Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), including Bharadwaj's home and other premises linked to private contractors. The raids, made under the purview of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), were related to the ongoing probe into an alleged scam involving health infrastructure projects during AAP's reign in Delhi.

During the press conference, Bharadwaj noted that the ED arrived at his residence at 7:15 am to search the house and later recorded Bharadwaj's statement.

"They had 43 questions for me, and I answered all of them. After recording my statement, they sent it somewhere. I do not know where they sent it, but later they came to me and asked me to remove a portion of my statement," Bharadwaj alleged.

He further added that it was indirectly suggested to his family that Bharadwaj would be arrested if he refused to change his statement.

"This is how ED functions. They manipulate you psychologically, use coercion and threat. How can ED dictate what I say in my statement?" he said .

The AAP leader noted he became a minister on March 9, 2023, and held a meeting on March 22, to address the issue of delays in hospital projects. He also added that he later held multiple meetings and issued directions to those involved.

"The lieutenant governor made sure the officers did not implement the directions. He hatched a conspiracy along with officers to frame me," Bharadwaj claimed.

Bharadwaj admitted his awareness that he could soon be arrested.

"While I will be in jail, my lawyers will expose the truth," he said.

He alleged that the BJP's ED stole documents from his house and took them away.

ED stole papers from my house, pressured me to sign on statements written arbitrarily by them. The ED has not even mentioned this in the panchanama," he said.

- Ends

Inputs by Press Trust of India (PTI)