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Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi Water Minister Satyendar Jain was arrested by Delhi's Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) on Tuesday (August 18) evening. A total of 6 people including Jain have been arrested in this case. This case pertains to alleged corruption in the tender for upgrading the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) under the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). After his arrest, Jain was taken to Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital for medical examination late on Tuesday night.

After this arrest, AAP is attacking BJP and the party chief claimed that the previous case was also fake and this case will also prove to be fake. Along with this, AAP claims that this arrest is directly connected to the Punjab Assembly elections because Jain is the co-in-charge of AAP for the Punjab elections to be held in 2027.

Let us inform that on the basis of the FIR registered by ACB on 11 May 2024, 6 people including Jain have been arrested on 18 August 2026. In this case, ACB has arrested former DJB CEO Udit Prakash Rai, former contractual consultant Ankit Srivastava and AN Enterprises owner Nagendra Yadav, Eurotech Environmental Private Limited (EEPL) owner Raja Kumar Kurra and Srijanhar owner Pankaj Verma. His medical examination has been done on Tuesday itself and now ACB can demand Jain's custody by presenting him in the court.

In October 2022, Delhi Jal Board had issued four major tenders to upgrade 10 STPs. Its cost was said to be around ₹1,943 crore. It is alleged that EEPL was benefited by changing the terms of the tender. On May 11, 2024, ACB had registered an FIR in this case. EEPL and others were made accused in this. On the basis of ACB's FIR, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also started investigating the case from July 2024. When ED investigated from the money laundering angle, it came to light that EEPL MD Rajakumar Kurra and his associates had allegedly paid a bribe of Rs 6.73 crore for the tender.

However, when these tenders were issued, there was AAP government in Delhi and Satyendar Jain was the Water Minister of Delhi, but he was in jail since May 2022 in the liquor policy case. AAP's claim is that when Jain was in ED custody, how did he commit a scam by issuing tenders? Satyendra Jain came out of jail in October 2024. However, ED alleges that whatever network was involved in the scam during the tender was issued, Jain was also associated with that alleged money-laundering network because when the tender was issued, he had not stepped down from the post, he was still on the post of Chairman of DJB. ACB is investigating on this basis also. However, it is not yet clear how much bribe came into Jain's account or what his role was in issuing the tender.

According to news agency PTI, the ACB alleges that the commission or bribe money for the tender was sent through middlemen companies like 'Srijanhaar' and 'AN Enterprises'. The agency alleges that the companies associated with EEPL had transferred the firm under the proprietorship of Nagendra Yadav. Rs 1.52 crore was channeled to Udit Prakash Rai and his relatives through banking channels. After this the money was used to buy real estate. ACB is investigating this amount, how it was transacted and where it was used.

In this whole matter, on one hand BJP is accusing Arvind Kejriwal of looting the people of Delhi, while on the other hand AAP has called it politics of revenge. AAP claims that Punjab elections are to be held in 2027, hence BJP is doing this kind of politics. AAP's chief national spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar claimed that Jain's arrest has a direct connection with the Punjab Assembly elections as Jain is AAP's co-in-charge for Punjab.

At the same time, Delhi BJP President Harsh Malhotra said that Kejriwal and his ministers, who call themselves staunchly honest, are facing the consequences of committing scams. Apart from this, BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj also targeted AAP and made allegations of corruption.

At the same time, Kejriwal accused BJP of doing politics of vengeance by tweeting and attacked the action of ACB by tweeting on his social media handle. He wrote, 'Satyendra Jain has once again been arrested by BJP. Everyone remembers the plight these people caused them by putting them in jail some time ago. The previous case was also fake and this case will also prove to be fake.

Accusing BJP of dictatorship, Kejriwal wrote, 'How long will this dictatorship of BJP continue? Whoever they feel like, they put them in jail on false charges. Their lies will once again be exposed to the country, but who will compensate for the time spent in jail and the mental torture?

Kejriwal wrote in the end, 'The pot of BJP's sins is now full. No matter how much dictatorship they do, now the end of Modi government is certain. The entire Aam Aadmi Party and the people of the country stand strongly with Satyendra Jain ji.