BJP avers 'ED must have something solid' to nab Satyendar Jain, slams 'witch-hunt' claim

After the high-profile arrest of Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday backed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) crackdown, stating that the investigative agency must have sufficient evidence to have taken such a big step. Speaking to Republic TV, BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli opined that the ED must have something solid in their hands to have taken the Delhi Minister into custody and asserted that the party can not wriggle out from the charges through allegations of 'political vendetta'. 

"Couple of years ago, as one can recall, certain information had come out related to Satyendra Jain and his family members which were questionable. If an agency like the ED has found sufficient ground to undertake arrest for custodial interrogation, that is for them to answer. Political parties can't pass comments on that. It means prima facie, there was something that led them to arrest a senior member of the AAP and a member of the Delhi cabinet. They have something solid in their hands, otherwise, they would not have gone forward with it," said Nalin Kohli.

"It goes back to a promise of the Narendra Modi government that there would be a clean up of politics and corruption at a large. When ED finds sufficient proof, an arrest is undertaken. AAP can not constantly get away with allegations of witch-hunt and political vendetta," he added.  

ED arrests Delhi Health Min Satyendar Jain

In a massive update, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday. Last month, ED had attached properties worth Rs 4.81 crore of the family and companies "beneficially owned and controlled" by him. 

The ED had initiated a Money Laundering investigation on the basis of an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Satyendar Jain & others in 2017 under the provisions of Section 109 of the Indian Penal Code and Sec 13(2) and 13(1) (e) of Prevention of Corruption Act.

An investigation by ED revealed that during the period 2015-16 when Satyendar Jain was a public servant, the above-mentioned 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 Hawala route. These amounts were utilized for the direct purchase of land or for the repayment of loans taken for the purchase of agricultural land in and around Delhi.

Accordingly, immovable properties worth Rs. 4.81 crore in the form of land belonging to the above-mentioned companies/individuals have been provisionally attached as per Section 5 of the PMLA, 2002.