BREAKING: Ahead Of Arvind Kejriwal's Questioning, ED Raids Delhi Minister Raaj Kumar Anand's Residence

NEW DELHI: In big trouble for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Aap Aadmi Party (AAP), the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted raids at the residence of Delhi government Minister Raaj Kumar Anand in the Civil Lines area. According to reports, the ED is conducting searches at 9 premises linked to the Delhi minister. The searches that began early morning are still underway at the moment.

#WATCH | ED raid underway at the residence of Delhi Minister Raaj Kumar Anand in Civil Lines area. Searches started early morning today. Raids are underway at 9 premises linked to him. Details awaited pic.twitter.com/2Q0ZuFIjGo

— ANI (@ANI) November 2, 2023

The raids at the Delhi minister's residence come ahead of Kejriwal's scheduled questioning by the central agency in the Delhi liquor policy case. This comes after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) previously questioned the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor in April this year. The party has expressed "apprehensions" that Kejriwal may be arrested in a similar way former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and AAP MP Sanjay Singh were arrested by the agencies in the case.

Earlier, both CBI and ED had told the Supreme Court that they are mulling over making AAP an accused in the excise policy matter. The Delhi Chief Minister was summoned by the ED - which is probing the money laundering angle in the case - on Monday, hours after the Supreme Court had rejected the bail petition of his former deputy, Manish Sisodia, who is the prime accused in the case. The judges had said a money trail of Rs 338 crore has been tentatively established.

Reacting to the ED summons, senior AAP leader and Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said, "The Central government has only one objective - to destroy the Aam Aadmi Party at any cost. For this, they are leaving no stone unturned, including creating a fake case. The idea is to send Arvind Kejriwal to jail and destroy the Aam Aadmi Party." 

His party colleague and Delhi Minister Atishi also expressed fears that Kejriwal would be taken into custody after the questioning. This would happen, she alleged, not because the agency had any evidence against him, but because he had spoken out against the BJP.

If arrested, Kejriwal will be the third senior leader from the AAP to be taken into custody in the liquor policy case. Manish Sisodia was arrested in February and the party's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh met the same fate last month. Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain had also been arrested in a money laundering case last year.