ED Raids Delhi Minister Raaj Kumar Anand's House In Money Laundering Probe

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday (2 November) searched the house of Delhi Social Welfare Minister Raaj Kumar Anand' in a customs-related money laundering case.

This morning, a team from the ED arrived at the minister's home and began searches.

Anand, 57, a minister in the Arvind Kejriwal-led cabinet, is an MLA from Patel Nagar.

He is the latest AAP leader under the central agency's scanner with his several party colleagues being probed in the Delhi liquor policy case.

The ED probe reportedly pertains to pertains to alleged false declarations in imports for customs evasions of over Rs 7 crore besides international hawala transactions.

The probe agency had filed a complaint against Anand after a local court had taken cognisance of the complaint by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence.

Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj criticised the ED's raid on Anand's residence, claiming that his sole mistake was his affiliation with the Aam Aadmi Party.

"The fault of Raaj Kumar Anand is that he is an AAP MLA and a minister from the party. Even during the British era, if you had to search someone's house, you needed a search warrant from the court. Today, ED needs no court warrant, their officers decide whose house they will raid. Raids are conducted only on the premises of Opposition leaders," Bharadwaj said, reports NDTV.

Earlier, ED had asked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to appear before it in connection with the liquor policy case today, but he is going to skip the summons.

The AAP had speculated that he may be arrested. Kejriwal this morning wrote a letter to the central agency and asked them to take back their notice immediately, calling it "illegal" and "politically motivated".