ED raids AAP leader in Delhi ‘health infra scam’ case

Saurabh Bhardwaj. FILE PIC

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday raided former minister Saurabh Bharadwaj as part of a money laundering probe linked to an alleged scam in health infrastructure projects during the previous AAP government in Delhi, official sources said.

At least 13 locations in the National Capital Region are being searched. These include Bharadwaj's house in south Delhi and residences and offices of some private contractors and commercial real estate developers located on K G Marg and West Patel Nagar, among others. The ED investigation against Bharadwaj, 45, AAP's Delhi unit chief and national spokesperson, stems from an FIR registered by Delhi's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) on June 26.

The complaint alleged "systematic manipulation of project budgets, misuse of public funds and collusion with private contractors". It alleged that during 2018-19, 24 hospital projects - 11 greenfield and 13 brownfield - worth Rs 5590 crore were sanctioned. However, these projects remained largely incomplete, with substantial and unexplained cost escalations.

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