AAP should face ED probe: Kewal Dhillon

Chandigarh: Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon slammed the AAP government in the state for criticising the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) searches at several locations, including the GMADA office in Mohali, and said it should address issues under investigation through facts and records rather than levelling political allegations.

“If there is nothing to hide, there is no reason to fear an investigation. The questions raised by the agency must be answered with documents and facts, not through press conferences and protests,” Dhillon said.

The AAP called out the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre on Thursday over the ED’s search operations in Punjab and also held a protest, accusing the Union government of misusing probe agencies ahead of next year’s state Assembly polls.

The ED launched search-and-survey operations at the office of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), the office of IAS officer Vikas Garg, who is the principal secretary in the Housing and Urban Development department in Punjab, and a Delhi-based realty company as part of a money-laundering investigation.

ED sleuths on Wednesday also searched a house in Chandigarh where former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain often resides. The senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader was not present when the federal agency reached the house in Sector 39 here, and officials broke open the locks to gain entry, sources said.

Dhillon alleged that the ED had repeatedly written to the Punjab Police seeking the registration of an FIR, but the state government failed to act. He also alleged that officials under scrutiny had avoided appearing before the agency. “If the ED has now taken up the investigation, why is the AAP government objecting? Calling every investigation politically motivated does not answer the substantive questions surrounding the case,” the BJP leader said.