Jain arrested in 'fake' case as BJP is afraid of losing HP polls: Sisodia

Delhi minister Satyendar Jain has been arrested in an eight-year-old "fake" case by the Enforcement Directorate as he is the AAP's incharge for Himachal Pradesh elections and the BJP is afraid of losing the polls, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Monday.

Jain was taken into custody under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after a few hours of questioning on Monday, ED officials said.

"A fake case has been going on against Satyendar Jain for eight years. He has been called by the ED several times so far. The ED had stopped calling him for some time because it did not find anything against him. Now it has again started because he is the incharge of Himachal Pradesh elections," Sisodia said in a tweet in Hindi.

"The BJP is afraid of losing the elections and hence he was arrested to prevent him from going to Himachal. He will be released soon as he has been arrested in a fake case," he added.

Jain, 57, is the minister for health, industries, power, home, urban development and water in the Arvind Kejriwal-led government.

Later, at a press conference here, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said Jain was earlier summoned seven times by the ED but was never arrested. He has been arrested now to "defame" the AAP ahead of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections.

"Jain, who was given a clean chit by the CBI in a disproportionate assets case, has now been arrested by the ED in a baseless case to defame the AAP," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

This is not the first time central agencies have targeted AAP and its leaders, Singh said citing raids against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Sisodia and other ministers.

"The AAP will strongly contest the Himachal Pradesh elections. Jain will be cleared of all charges as has happened with other AAP ministers and MLAs against whom several cases were registered," he added.

The ED had questioned Jain in connection with the case in 2018.

The Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls are slated for later this year. The AAP is looking to make inroads into the state after its stupendous victory in Punjab earlier this year.

The ED had said last month that assets worth Rs 4.81 crore of Jain's family and companies "beneficially owned and controlled" by him were provisionally attached as part of a money laundering probe against him.

In a statement issued then, the agency had said it issued a provisional order under the PMLA to "attach immovable properties worth Rs 4.81 crore belonging to Akinchan Developers Pvt. Ltd.; Indo Metal Impex Pvt Ltd; Paryas Infosolutions Pvt. Ltd.; Manglayatan Projects Pvt. Ltd.; J.J. Ideal Estate Pvt. Ltd.; Swati Jain, wife of Vaibhav Jain; Sushila Jain, wife of Ajit Prasad Jain; and Indu Jain, wife of Sunil Jain." The probe found that "during the period 2015-16, 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.