Former minister and Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj has said that he offered three times to be arrested during the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid at his residence in connection with a money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in hospital construction projects in the national capital.
“I told the ED teams that if they want to arrest me, they can. I made this proposal to them three times… I am a follower of Arvind Kejriwal. I will not work as you wish… I will hold a press conference tomorrow… They can also arrest me after the press conference,” Bharadwaj the former Greater Kailash MLA told reporters after the raid that continued for several hours on Tuesday.
The raids were held at 13 locations, including Bhardwaj’s residence, across the Delhi-NCR region, based on a certain tip-off in connection with the case. The search operations were carried out under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).
These searches are in connection with the ECIR recorded in the Delhi Hospital Construction Scam, relating to FIR No. 37/2025 dated 26.06.2025, registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), Delhi Police, against former Health Ministers of GNCT of Delhi, along with private contractors and unknown government officials.
AAP leader and former chief minister Atishi alleged that the Enforcement Directorate’s 20-hour search at the residence of Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bhardwaj was aimed at diverting attention and said the BJP is scared of AAP.
“ED carried out a search at the residence of Saurabh Bharadwaj for 20 hours. Why was a raid carried out at the residence of Saurabh Bharadwaj?… These raids were carried out just to divert attention…The strength of AAP is that it never bows down, and that’s why the BJP is scared of AAP,” the leader of opposition in Delhi assembly told news agency ANI.
The Modi government wants to suppress our voice. This will never happen.
I told the ED teams that if they want to arrest me, they can.
Earlier, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal slammed the ED and the Union Government over the raids, terming it “another case of the Modi government misusing agencies.”
“The Modi government has gone after the Aam Aadmi Party. The way AAP is being targeted has never been done to any party in history. AAP is being targeted because it is the most vocal voice against the Modi government’s wrong policies and corrupt deeds. The Modi government wants to suppress our voice. This will never happen. AAP is not one to be scared of these BJP raids. We will continue to raise our voice against wrong policies and corruption in the interest of the country, as always,” Kejriwal, the former Delhi CM, said in a post on X.