Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain arrested in PMLA case

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 30

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today arrested Delhi Health Minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain under criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with his alleged involvement in a “hawala transactions” case, officials said.

At BJP's behest

Satyendar Jain is being targeted in a fake case at the behest of the BJP due to his active involvement in the AAP’s Himachal campaign. — Manish Sisodia , Delhi Deputy CM

Incidentally, Jain, who is the party in-charge for the upcoming Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, has been arrested just a day ahead of PM Narendra Modi's visit to the Himalayan state on Tuesday.

However, the ED action comes over a month after the agency issued a provisional attachment order under the PMLA to seize assets linked to Jain and his family members, worth around Rs 4.81 crore. According to officials, the alleged hawala transactions for which Jain has been arrested “relate to a Kolkata-based company”.

The officials said Jain has been accused of allegedly receiving money from shell companies in lieu of the cash transferred via “hawala”.

Reacting to his arrest, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said in a tweet that Jain was being targeted in a “fake case” at the behest of the BJP due to his involvement in AAP’s campaign in Himachal.

“A fake case is being run against Satyendar Jain for 8 years. Till now, the ED has called him many times. In between, the ED stopped calling for many years as they did not find anything. Now, they have started again because Satyendar Jain is the (party’s) election in-charge of HP where the BJP is losing badly. This is the reason why Jain has been arrested so that he cannot go to Himachal. He will be released in a few days, as the case is completely fake,” Sisodia said.

The case against Jain stems from an August 2017 FIR filed by the CBI against him and others on charges of possession of disproportionate assets.

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