ED seizes Rs 2.85 cr cash, 133 gold coins after raids against Delhi minister Satyendar Jain

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said those raided on Monday were "either directly or indirectly assisted" the minister in the process of money laundering

"Unexplained" Rs 2.85 crore in cash and 133 gold coins weighing 1.8 kg were seized following raids at the residence of arrested Delhi minister Satyender Jain and his associates, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Tuesday, prompting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to launch a direct attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming that he was after AAP governments in Punjab and Delhi.

The ED said in a statement that cash and coins seized from Jain's Delhi residence were "unexplained" and were kept in a "secret" place. The searches were conducted on Monday and those raided along with Jain were "either directly or indirectly assisting" the minister in the process of money laundering.

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"Various incriminating documents, digital records, cash amounting to Rs 2.85 crore and 133 gold coins weighing 1.8 kg in total from unexplained sources have been seized," ED tweeted.

It was not clear from the tweet how much cash and other articles were seized from Jain's house.

The 57-year-old, a close aide of Kejriwal, was arrested on May 30 under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). A court has remanded him in ED custody till June 9.

The ED had conducted searches at seven premises, including that of a jeweller, in Delhi and some neighbouring locations on Monday.

Soon after the ED's statement, Kejriwal launched an attack on Modi.

"At this moment, the Prime Minister is coming after the AAP with full force, especially against the governments of Delhi and Punjab. Lie on lie, lie on lie. You have the power of all agencies, But God is with us," he tweeted in Hindi.

AAP Rajya Sabha floor leader Sanjay Singh claimed that nothing was seized from Jain's house. "To deliberately trap Jain, (the ED is) naming any random person his close associate. When nothing was found from Satendra Jain's house, then BJP is levelling baseless allegations. Only Rs 2.79 lakh in cash was recovered from Jain's residence and all other things are false," he said.

The ED case against Jain arose out of a CBI FIR filed in August 2017 on charges of alleged possession of disproportionate assets. It was alleged that he amassed disproportionate assets of Rs 1.47 crore, which was 217 per cent more than his known sources of income during 2015-17.

The CBI had filed a charge sheet in December 2018 while Jain had denied the allegations.

In April this year, the ED had attached assets worth Rs 4.81 crore of Jain's family and companies "beneficially owned and controlled" by him as part of the probe.

The ED had said that its probe had found that "during 2015 and 2016, when Satyendar Kumar Jain was a public servant, the companies beneficially owned and controlled by him received accommodation entries to the tune of Rs 4.81 crore from shell (paper) companies against cash transferred to Kolkata-based entry operators through the hawala route."

"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," it had said.

The Income Tax Department also investigated this and issued an order attaching "benami assets" allegedly linked to Jain.