Delhi minister and AAP leader Raj Kumar Anand has been accused by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) of making hawala payments to China and evading customs duty of Rs 7 crore on imports, the Enforcement Directorate said on Friday, news agency PTI reported. have put. , The central probe agency searched the house of the 57-year-old minister in connection with the money laundering probe. The raid started at 7:30 am on Thursday and continued till 5 am on Friday.
The agency said it initiated investigation against Anand and individuals and companies associated with him “on the basis of a prosecution complaint filed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence” for violating various provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.
“As per the said complaint, Raj Kumar Anand made hawala payments to China and evaded customs duty of approximately Rs 7 crore on various imports,” PTI quoted the ED statement as saying in its report.
According to reports, on August 11, a local court took cognizance of the crime.
Anand said during a press conference that the case against him dates back to 2005 and he has done nothing wrong.
“The searches lasted for about 23 hours and it is part of a conspiracy to harass AAP leaders. We were harassed since morning,” the Patel Nagar MLA told reporters after ED officials emerged from his residence in the Civil Lines area of the national capital. Went.” Around 5 in the morning.
After the ED inquiry, Delhi Minister Raj Anand said, “The raids are an excuse to harass people.”
On Thursday morning, raids were conducted at 13 different places in the National Capital Region, Kolkata and Uttar Pradesh.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) claimed to have seized Rs 74 lakh in cash and various incriminating documents and digital records besides unaccounted business investments and hawala payments sent to China during 2023 from key employees of Raj Kumar Anand. Investigation.
DRI is an investigative body that reports to the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), and hawala refers to illegal and fraudulent KYC-based monetary transactions carried out through both banking and non-banking channels.
After the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the house of Delhi Minister Raj Kumar Anand, AAP leaders on Friday said the BJP is using central investigative agencies to intimidate and silence the opposition. During a press conference, Delhi Minister Atishi said that during the raid, ED agents broke into Anand’s house and harassed his family members, but no evidence was found against him.
At a press briefing, Anand said the raids were a “political conspiracy” and “we are being harassed for following the politics of truth and work.” We are not afraid of the ED or the CBI and our leader Arvind Will continue to follow Kejriwal.
According to Atishi, the ED raid was conducted in connection with a 19-year-old case, which was going on in the Customs Tribunal for several years. He said, “Two agencies of the BJP are busy harassing AAP. The raids at Anand’s residence continued for 20 hours, his residence was vandalized and his family members were harassed. The whereabouts of his relatives and business associates But were also raided.” PTI has quoted in its report.
“I want to tell BJP that we are not afraid of ED and CBI and are ready to go to jail. They cannot silence us or stop us from working (for the people). We will continue to fight against BJP’s corruption.