The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday launched raids on Bibhav Kumar, the personal secretary of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Rajya Sabha member ND Gupta and others in connection with a money laundering probe related to siphoning of funds from the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), people familiar with the development said.
The agency had, on January 31, arrested Jagdish Kumar Arora (former chief engineer of DJB) and Anil Kumar Aggarwal (a businessman) in the case under the Prevention of Money laundering Act (PMLA).
ED initiated investigations in the case on the basis of an FIR (first information report) registered by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which contained scheduled offences related to corruption/bribery in DJB.
The FIR alleged that Jagdish Kumar Arora [the then chief engineer, DJB] awarded certain contract in Delhi Jal Board to M/s NKG Infrastructure Ltd. for total cost of ₹38,02,33,080 despite the fact that the company did not meet the technical eligibility criteria.
“ED investigation revealed that NKG Infrastructure Ltd obtained the bid by submitting forged/fake/false documents. Jagdish Kumar Arora was aware of the fact that the company does not meet the technical eligibility criteria for sanctioning of the tender for SITC of Electromagnetic flow meter. NKG Infrastructure Ltd sub-contracted the work to Integral Screws Ltd, a proprietorship firm of Anil Kumar Aggarwal. On receipt of funds, Anil Kumar Aggarwal transferred the bribe amount ₹3 crore to Jagdish Kumar Arora through cash and bank accounts,” ED said in a statement last week.
Investigations further show that bank accounts of close associates of Jagdish Kumar Arora and their relatives were used to transfer the bribe amounts. The close associate of Jagdish Kumar Arora also received bribes in cash, it said.
