SHIMLA: A day after he attended a Devi Bhagwad Katha in the temple town of Kangra in Himachal Pradesh, Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Satyendar Jain found himself in trouble after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him on Monday in connection with a money laundering case.
According to senior ED officials related to the probe, Jain was arrested by the ED under the sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED official said he was arrested in connection with hawala transactions related to a Kolkata-based company.
Jain is the minister for health, power, home, PWD, industries, urban development, flood, irrigation and water in the Arvind Kejriwal-led government.
In 2018, ED questioned the AAP MLA in connection with the case. The financial probe agency, in April this year, has attached properties worth Rs 4.81 crore of the family and companies “beneficially owned and controlled” by Jain in connection with a money-laundering probe.
दिल्ली हो या पंजाब, अगर कोई मंत्री भ्रष्टाचार करने की सोचता भी है तो अगले दिन वह जेल में होता है क्योंकि यहाँ AAP की कट्टर ईमानदार सरकार है।
लेकिन हिमाचल प्रदेश में कोई मंत्री भ्रष्टाचार करे तो भाजपा उसे प्रमोशन दे देती है। BJP में जो जितना बड़ा भ्रष्टाचारी वह उतना बड़ा मंत्री। pic.twitter.com/cxfa183xHO
— Satyendar Jain (@SatyendarJain) May 29, 2022
In a statement, the ED said it has issued a provisional order under the PMLA for the attachment of the assets.
The “attached immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore belong to Akinchan Developers Pvt Ltd, Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd, Paryas Infosolutions Pvt Ltd, Manglayatan Projects Pvt Ltd, JJ Ideal Estate Pvt Ltd, Swati Jain, wife of Vaibhav Jain, Sushila Jain, wife of Ajit Prasad Jain, and Indu Jain, wife of Sunil Jain.”
The probe found that “during the period 2015-16, when 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”.
“These amounts were utilised for direct purchase of land or for repayment of loan taken for the purchase of agricultural land in and around Delhi,” the ED had mentioned.
The ED case of money laundering against the AAP minister is based on a CBI FIR registered against Jain in August 2017 on charges of alleged possession of disproportionate assets.
AAP applauded ED raids on Channi's nephew during Punjab election & used it as a tool but will now cry hoarse when Delhi minister Satyendra Jain (not his nephew) has been arrested in a corruption case by ED.
Will they sack him like Vijay Singla in Punjab?
Watch full hypocrisy!
— Gaurav Pandhi (@GauravPandhi) May 30, 2022
Jain’s arrest will be a big blow to the fortunes of AAP in the poll-bound Himachal Pradesh, where he is looking after the affairs of the party.
Sources in the party told The New Indian that Jain was working hard to bring prominent leaders from Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress to AAP. In fact, he was instrumental in bringing many social workers and bureaucrats into the party.
हिमाचल में भाजपा बुरी तरह से हार रही है। इसीलिए सत्येंद्र जैन को आज गिरफ़्तार किया गया है ताकि वो हिमाचल न जा सकें.
वे कुछ दिनों में छूट जाएँगे क्योंकि केस बिलकुल फ़र्ज़ी है. 2/2— Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) May 30, 2022
His arrest has demoralized the party workers so much that they are not in the right frame of mind to comment on his issue.
On Sunday, Jain was accompanied by lawyer Ajay Jain and local AAP leaders for the Devi Bhagwad Katha event. Many leaders from other parties including Vipin Singh Parmar, speaker of Himachal Pradesh Assembly, BJP’s Munish Sharma and Rajeev Bhardwaj along with RSS leader Bhushan Raina and Ved Prakash Sharma, president of Himachal Brahmin Kalyan Parishad, were also there.
“Jain was on tour to Himachal to attend the Jan Sanvad Programs by the party. He attended one at Paonta Sahib and then headed for Kangra to attend this spiritual event. After this, he left for Delhi on Sunday,” said a party spokesperson requesting anonymity.
Incidentally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday at Shimla. He will then visit the state again for two days from June 16 onwards.