ED raids on Saurabh Bhardwaj’s premises, what is the reason behind the raids at 13 places?
ED raids have been conducted at Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bhardwaj’s house and 13 locations in Delhi. Raids were conducted at 13 locations in and around Delhi while investigating the alleged hospital scam of Rs 5,590 crore. This relates to the period when the Aam Aadmi Party government approved 24 hospital projects aimed at improving the healthcare infrastructure. According to the plan, ICU units in these hospitals were to be ready within six months. But Saurabh Bhardwaj is accused of not completing even 50% of these works till now. While more than Rs 800 crore has been spent. Based on allegations of cost overruns and misuse of funds, the ED had registered a money laundering case in July 2024. Today’s raid is part of the same investigation. What came out in the ED investigation According to reports, shocking figures have come to the fore in the ED investigation. The alleged scam linked to hospital construction is estimated to be around ₹5,590 crore. According to sources, ED raided 13 locations in Delhi and nearby areas as part of its investigation into the alleged scam of about Rs 5,590 crore related to government hospital construction. The focus of ED’s investigation is on the money embezzlement during the hospital construction. The names of former minister Satyendra Jain and current minister Saurabh Bhardwaj have surfaced in this hospital construction scam. ED has started the investigation by registering a case against both of them. Allegation of deliberate delay According to ED, a plan was made for 94 polyclinics which were to be built at a cost of Rs 168 crore. The expenditure for setting up polyclinics reportedly escalated from an initial ₹168 crore estimate to nearly ₹220 crore. Even after spending Rs 220 crore, only 52 polyclinics could be built. Along with this, it is also being said that to avoid financial transparency, the Health Information Management System was also deliberately stopped and low-cost options like NIC’s e-hospital were ignored. The investigation of the Anti Corruption Bureau has revealed that the cost of the hospital construction project was artificially increased. Not only was the work deliberately delayed, but funds were also misused, due to which the government treasury suffered a huge loss. To put it simply, former minister Satyendra Jain and current minister Saurabh Bhardwaj have been accused of money misappropriation during the construction of the hospital and alleged collusion at the political and administrative level related to it.