ED conducts searches at AAP leaders' premises ahead of Atishi's press briefing

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiated searches at the residences of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Rajya Sabha member ND Gupta and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's personal secretary Bibhav Kumar, on February 6. These searches were reportedly part of an investigation into a money laundering case related to the Delhi Jal Board, coinciding with an upcoming press briefing by Delhi minister Atishi, who had promised to unveil revelations about the agency.

Atishi, addressing the media, alleged that the ED raids were an attempt to hinder her planned expose and accused the agency of being "scared" of her statements. She linked the searches to the ED's probe into the excise matter, branding it a "scam" due to the absence of recoveries and claimed that the agency had tampered with statements of accused and witnesses. Atishi further detailed an instance where she accused the ED of altering the statement of an accused, prompting the accused to request CCTV footage as evidence, which purportedly showed discrepancies between the recorded discussion and the submitted statement.

“When the ED submitted the footage in the court, the ED deleted the audio of the discussion, and only video footage was submitted. All the evidence covering the discussions held in the room was deleted,” she said.