ED raids AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj's residence in Rs 5,500 crore hospital construction scam

AAP leader and former Delhi health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted raids at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bharadwaj's residence in connection with an alleged scam involving the construction of hospitals during his tenure as Delhi’s health minister.

ED is conducting search operations under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) at 13 different locations across the Delhi-NCR region, including the residence of Saurabh Bhardwaj, as well as the offices and residences of the private contractors involved in the projects.

The hospital construction scam is allegedly worth approximately Rs 5,590 crore. In 2018-2019, the AAP-led Delhi government approved projects worth Rs 5,590 crore for the construction of 24 hospitals. The ICU hospital was supposed to be completed in six months, but even after three years, the work remained incomplete, NDTV reported citing sources.

Despite this, 50% of the sanctioned funds were reportedly used. The ED suspects that this was financial embezzlement meant to benefit Bharadwaj and others.

Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) had flagged irregularities in the construction of hospitals during the AAP regime, according to News18.

Delhi ACB said 24 hospital projects, including 11 greenfield and 13 brownfield, were sanctioned at a cost of more than Rs 5,500 crore in 2018-19. These projects were mired in inexplicable delays and astronomical cost overruns, indicating large-scale financial embezzlement.

The central probe agency’s case stems from the FIR registered by the ACB Delhi.