The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday, August 26, raided former Delhi Minister and AAP leader, Saurabh Bhardwaj's residence in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged hospital construction scam. The case is related to irregularities in construction of hospitals sectioned during AAP's government tenure.
The central investigative agency is searching 13 other locations in Delhi and NCR linked to the case. However, details of the assets seized have not yet been disclosed.
Bhardwaj, a three-time MLA from Greater Kailash, was the former Health, Urban Development, and Water Minister of Delhi Jal Board during AAP's tenure in the National Capital.
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The complaint filed by the then Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi legislative assembly, Vijender Gupta, in August 2024, which suggests corruption in the sanction amounts and construction of 24 hospital projects worth Rs 5,590 crore during 2018-19. The projects included 11 new hospitals and 13 upgrades of existing medical facilities.
The ED probe revealed that the projects were marred by delays, cost overruns and suspected embezzlement. None of the sanctioned hospitals were completed on time, and several hundred crores in escalated costs remain unexplained.