Security personnel keeping vigil during a raid by the Enforcement Directorate in Rajinder Nagar, central Delhi, on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches on at least 37 locations in the city in connection with the alleged “₹2,000-crore classroom construction scam”, sources at the agency said.
The searches were carried out on premises linked to contractors and private entities purportedly involved in the scam, sources added.
The ED launched its probe after registering a criminal case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on a May 30 FIR registered by the Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and former Ministers Satyendar Jain and Manish Sisodia for alleged irregularities in the construction of 12,748 classrooms in Delhi government schools during Arvind Kejriwal’s term as Chief Minister.
In a statement, AAP said, “These ‘raids’ are a desperate attempt to divert public attention from issues such as waterlogging, fee hikes by private schools, and power cuts.”
The ACB had questioned Mr. Jain, who served as the Public Works Department Minister in the previous AAP government, for five hours on June 6 in connection with the “scam”. It had also summoned Mr. Sisodia, who held the Education portfolio, on June 9. However, he cited “prior commitments” and did not appear before the agency. The ACB has also booked Mr. Jain in a separate ‘₹571-crore CCTV project scam’.
According to senior ACB officials, the project was awarded to contractors associated with AAP, which was then in power, and “significant deviations and cost escalations” were observed, even as the work was not completed within the prescribed time frame.
The case stems from a complaint filed in 2019 by BJP’s North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari, alleging that an average of ₹28 lakh had been spent on constructing each classroom, which was several times higher than the usual market estimate of ₹5 lakh.
Published – June 19, 2025 01:29 am IST