AAP leader Bhardwaj writes to ED Director

Senior AAP leader and former Delhi minister Saurabh Bhardwaj has written to the Director of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), alleging grave procedural improprieties, manipulation of records and threats during a raid at his residence on Tuesday.

In a three-page letter, Bhardwaj said ED officials recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in the laptop of Assistant Director Mayank Arora. He alleged that after responses to 43 out of 44 questions were typed, his statement was externally shared through Google Drive and WhatsApp using his home Wi-Fi, raising “grave concerns of confidentiality, privacy and integrity of the investigation.”

According to Bhardwaj, ED officers pressured him to delete or alter portions of his statement, particularly references to the Lieutenant Governor and officials of the Delhi government.

“Despite my full cooperation throughout the raid, I was subtly threatened with arrest under the PMLA provisions if I did not sign the altered version,” Bhardwaj wrote in his letter.

The AAP leader also accused ED officials of preparing “multiple versions” of the seizure memo (panchnama). He said an affidavit from the Health Department, favourable to his case, was included in the first version, but later removed and destroyed while in ED custody. Such actions, he alleged, amounted to “tampering with evidence.”

Bhardwaj criticised the role of independent witnesses during the raid, saying they signed manipulated documents without verification, thereby facilitating “illegal actions” of ED officials and undermining the credibility of proceedings.

He urged the ED Director to seize Assistant Director Arora’s laptop as well as his own home printer that was connected to the laptop during the raid, arguing both devices could provide forensic proof of tampering. He also called for an internal inquiry against Arora, Deputy Director Ravish Bhardwaj and the panch witnesses.

“I cannot remain silent in the face of such grave procedural improprieties, evidence tampering and misuse of authority,” Bhardwaj wrote.

The ED has not yet responded to the allegations.

“Despite such a serious matter where questions have been raised on the functioning and credibility of the ED, there has been no information of any action taken by the ED Director so far,” Bhardwaj tweeted on Friday.

The ED conducted raids at 13 locations, including Bhardwaj’s residence, as part of a PMLA money-laundering probe into an alleged Rs 5,590-crore hospital construction scam. The Central agency is investigating cost overruns, unauthorised works and potential collusion in health infrastructure projects.