The Enforcement Directorate (ED) said on Friday that more than 300 passbooks, linked to mule bank accounts opened in the names of labourers, have been seized through which Delhi government funds sourced from the classroom-construction scam  worth Rs 2000 crore during the previous AAP regime were diverted. According to ED, it has  unearthed substantial incriminating evidence from the premises of a private contractor. In a related development, former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was on Friday questioned for over three hours by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) on Friday. In a statement, Madhur Verma, Joint Commissioner of Police, ACB, said Sisodia appeared before the agency at 11 am.  Sisodia was examined in the presence of an independent Panch witness, and his responses were recorded regarding various facts and circumstances related to the case. Following the completion of todays examination, he left the ACB office at 2.30 pm, Verma said, adding further investigation in the matter is underway. Before his scheduled appearance before the ACB, Sisodia termed the case politically motivated and an attempt to divert attention from crucial issues. AAP leader Atishi also slammed the BJP, alleging a decade-long political vendetta involving over 200 false cases against party leaders. Earlier, the  ED has conducted searches in connection with the case at 37 locations in Delhi on June 18. The AAP had termed the ED action a desperate attempt to divert public attention and asserted that the allegations against its leaders were politically motivated. Among the materials seized were original departmental files belonging to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, as well as rubber stamps bearing the names and designations of officials from the Public Works Department (PWD), it said. The officials also found that 322 bank passbooks linked to mule accounts (used for transacting illicit funds) opened in the names of labourers used to divert Government funds under the guise of legitimate transactions. Some forged letterheads of private contractors and shell entities, which were used to generate fake procurement records and fictitious purchase bills, were also seized during the raids. The ED case, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), stems from an FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of Delhi on April 30 against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and former ministers in the cabinet of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal — Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain and some others. Sisodia, 53, held the finance and education portfolios in the previous AAP government in the national capital and Jain, 60, was in-charge of the public works department and some other ministries. In a statement, the ED said that it has initiated investigation on the basis of FIR registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch, GNCTD, against Manish Sisodia (the then Education Minister), Satyendra Jain (the then PWD Minister) and others pertaining to financial misappropriation exceeding Rs 2,000 Crore in the construction of approximately 12,748 additional classrooms by the Public Works Department, Government of NCT of Delhi, between 2015 and 2023. Despite an initial requirement for 2,405 classrooms, the project scope was arbitrarily increased to 7,180 Equivalent Classrooms, and subsequently to 12,748 rooms without proper sanction or approvals resulting in massive cost escalations. Further there was unjustified adoption of richer specifications proposed by M/s. Babbar and Babbar Associates, and execution of duplicate and inflated works. Cost escalations of up to 49.03 per cent were observed across Priority-I and Priority-II phases. During the course of the searches, ED unearthed a substantial incriminating evidence from the premises of a private contractors, it said. Evidences relating to fake invoices submitted to GNCTD departments, showing inflated or entirely bogus claims was found and seized. Several dummy firms have been found during the search which were having no real infrastructure, documentation, or operational legitimacy, but were shown to have received substantial payments for construction activities relating to the Additional Classrooms. Additionally, substantial incriminating documents and digital evidences have been recovered and seized during the search. Further investigation is under progress, the ED said in the statement.    

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