CBI raid reveals AAP minister Satyender Jain owns property worth millions

The CBI on Sunday said it has recovered documents related to property and bank transactions worth millions allegedly linked to Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain during searches at residences of a registrar and a lawyer of Delhi Dental Council in a bribery case.

The CBI has registered a case under sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code against the two officials on the allegations of demanding bribe from the complainant for getting him favourable order from the DDC and also for extending help in further legal proceedings in his matter, said officials.

Agency sleuths laid a trap and caught the accused while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 473,000 from the complainant on Saturday night. The arrested accused were produced in a court here on Sunday which sent then to four days police custody.

Searches were conducted at the office and residence of Registrar Rishi Raj and advocate Pradeep Sharma, which led to recovery of Rs 2.4 million in cash, half Kg Gold (approx) and also three property documents relating to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Jain.

These include two sale deeds of land and a Power of Attorney for land at Karala village here.

The probe agency also recovered a bank deposit slip book containing counter foils detailing cheque deposits of around Rs 20 million during 2011 in Jain's name and companies wherein he was serving as Director and in the name of his family members; and 41 cheque Books in his name, his wife's name and in the name of a private estate firm.

CBI sources say Jain gave these documents (now seized by CBI) when he was quizzed, raided following registration of a corruption case against him last year.

CBI has registered a case of corruption against him accusing him of misusing his official position. The agency is probing him for his links with Hawala operators, how he set up shell companies to convert black money into white and subsequently purchased huge tracts of land on Delhi's outskirts.

Income Tax has already seized his 220 bighas of land in outer Delhi under the Benami Properties act.

Responding to the agency's charges, an AAP spokesperson said: "The papers that CBI is referring to were given by Satyendar Jain to CBI twice and have been declared in the income tax return for many years."

"What is new about it?" the spokesperson asked, adding the BJP government was trying to ruin the image of Jain.

Party official Nagendar Sharma tweeted: "This is the latest attempt to frame Satyendar Jain. He has nothing to do, even remotely with the registrar in question. Till date BJP has miserably failed in digging out anything against Mr Jain."

"The BJP's central govt has been pulled up by the High Court many times in cases registered by it against Mr Jain.Now this is a fresh BJP conspiracy. The papers planted by CBI have been twice handed over by Mr Jain himself to the CBI and have been declared many times in his IT returns. What is new in these papers ?

The CBI said it will summon Jain for questioning this week.