Delhi minister Satyendar Jain arrested by ED in hawala case

The Enforcement Directorate on Monday arrested Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain in a case connected to hawala transactions related to a Kolkata-based company.

He was taken into custody under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after a few hours of questioning, ED officials said.

Jain, 57, is the minister for health, power, home, PWD, industries, urban development, flood, irrigation and water in the Arvind Kejriwal-led government.

Moments after the arrest, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said Jain has been held in an eight-year-old ''fake'' case as he is the AAP's incharge for the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections and the BJP is afraid of losing the polls.

''A fake case has been going on against Satyendar Jain for eight years. He has been called by the ED several times so far. The ED had stopped calling him for some time because it did not find anything against him. Now it has again started because he is the incharge of Himachal Pradesh elections,'' Sisodia said in a tweet in Hindi.

''The BJP is afraid of losing the elections and hence he was arrested to prevent him from going to Himachal. He will be released soon as he has been arrested in a fake case,'' Sisodia added.

In April, ED had attached assets worth Rs 4.81 crore of the family and companies ''beneficially owned and controlled'' by Jain in connection with a money-laundering probe against him.

Investigation by the ED had revealed that during the period 2015-16, when Jain was a public servant and 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 utilised for direct purchase of land or for the repayment of loans taken for the purchase of agricultural land in and around Delhi

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., J.J. Ideal Estate Pvt. Ltd., Swati Jain, wife of Vaibhav Jain, Sushila Jain, wife of Ajit Prasad Jain, and Indu Jain, wife of Sunil Jain.''

''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 said.

(With inputs from Munish Pandey and Ashutosh Mishra)