Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain in a case connected to hawala transactions related to a Kolkata-based company.
He was taken into custody under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after a few hours of questioning, ED officials said. A few weeks ago, the probe agency had attached properties worth Rs 4.81 crore of the family and companies “beneficially owned and controlled” by Jain in connection with the probe.
The probe by the ED against the minister had found that “during the period 2015-16, when Satyendar Kumar Jain was a public servant, the companies beneficially owned and controlled by him received accommodation entries to the tune of Rs 4.81 crore from shell companies against cash transferred to Kolkata-based entry operators through the hawala route” agency sources added.
However, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia reacted to the arrest, claiming that the eight-year old case against Jain is “fake’. He claimed that the ED is targetting Jain as he has been made AAP’s election in-charge of Himachal.
“BJP is losing badly in Himachal. That is why Satyendra Jain has been arrested today so that he cannot go to Himachal. They will be released in a few days as the case is completely fake,” he said in a tweet.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh said Jain was earlier summoned seven times by the ED but was never arrested. He has been arrested now to “defame” the AAP ahead of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections “Jain, who was given a clean chit by the CBI in a disproportionate assets case, has now been arrested by the ED in a baseless case to defame the AAP,” he added.
