Found evidence of hawala payments made to China: ED after raid at AAP MLA Anand’s home

Anand (57), the AAP MLA from Patel Nagar and minister for social welfare and SC/ST welfare among others in the Arvind Kejriwal-led government, alleged that the 20-hour search operation at his residence was part of a political conspiracy.

On Thursday morning, multiple teams of ED began searching Anand’s premises at 7 am.

An ED spokesperson said, “The Directorate conducted search operations on November 2 at 13 locations in Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, and Uttar Pradesh as part of its investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against Raaj Kumar Anand and other connected persons/entities.”

“The ED initiated the investigation on the basis of a prosecution complaint filed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence against Anand and other connected persons/entities for commission of offences under various sections of the Customs Act. As per the complaint, Anand made hawala payments to China and evaded customs duty amounting to about Rs 7 crore on various imports. The Hon’ble Court has taken cognizance of the offence vide order on August 11,” the spokesperson added.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, Anand said: “During my childhood, I worked as a labourer. After that, I struggled continuously and started an import-export business in 1996. For a case from 2005, I received a ‘show-cause notice’ in 2007. Following that, I appealed to the Supreme Court.”

“As per the Supreme Court’s directive, I deposited the amount… This is merely a way to cause distress… We are a party that follows the path of truth and practices politics of work, which is why we are being troubled. The BJP wants to silence parties that engage in politics of work… We will not be afraid of the CBI or ED and will stand with our leader Arvind Kejriwal,” Anand added.