ED raids Delhi CM's PA, others

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday searched some premises of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's personal assistant Bibhav Kumar and others as part of its probe into charges that the AAP received kickbacks of Rs 17 crore through "irregularities" in a Delhi Jal Board tender, official sources said. This action is part of a money laundering investigation focusing on alleged bribes that were garnered through irregularities in the DJB tendering process and purportedly channelled as election funds to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the officials said. A dozen premises in the national capital were searched by the federal agency's officials from 7 am under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The residences of Bibhav Kumar, former Delhi Jal Board member Shalabh Kumar, the office of party Rajya Sabha MP and national treasurer N D Gupta, and the premises of Chartered Accountant (CA) Pankaj Mangal and others associated with the ruling party in Delhi were covered in the search action.