ED arrests AAP leader under PMLA

AAP leader Deepak Singla was arrested by the ED for alleged money laundering linked to a ₹150 crore bank fraud, prompting political backlash from AAP.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday arrested Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Deepak Singla in connection with a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged bank fraud of over ₹150 crore, officials familiar with the matter said.

AAP leader Deepak Singla (ANI Video Grab)

Singla, who contested the last assembly election from the Vishwas Nagar seat in Delhi, was first raided by the central agency on Monday. The searches were conducted at his premises in Delhi and Goa, as well as locations linked to some suspected hawala operators, they added.

Citing “reliable sources”, an ED officer said that Singla was handling hawala operations for channelising funds for AAP between Delhi and Goa. “Deepak Singla, along with his uncle Ashok Kumar Mittal and brothers Raman Singla and Harish Singla, defrauded Oriental Bank of Commerce of more than ₹150 crore,” the officer said.

The proceeds, the officer said, “were sent to controlled firms in Singapore”. Another officer said it was suspected that the money was routed back to India through the hawala route to be infused back into illegal activities linked to Singla.

Following the searches, the ED arrested Singla under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Delhi.

Reacting to the development, AAP national convener and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed the arrest was politically motivated. In a post on X in Hindi, Kejriwal said, “Deepak Singla was not arrested because he did anything wrong. Rather, he was arrested because he was working against the BJP and refused to join the BJP. Deepak is brave and fighting for the country.”

Former Delhi CM and AAP Goa in-charge Atishi said: “Today in our country, the NEET paper is being leaked, the prices of petrol-diesel-CNG are rising every day, and the rupee is continuously falling against the dollar. But Mr Modi has only one job—to file false cases against opposition leaders and arrest them. No matter how many leaders of our party you arrest, we will continue to work for the interest of the country.”

AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Elections were held in Delhi in 2025, and for three years, all ED and CBI actions were focused on Delhi leaders. Now elections are due in Punjab and Goa, so raids have started.”

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, during a press conference, said that the arrest has exposed yet another dark face of the AAP. “While the bribery and loot involving Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders have already remained a matter of public discussion, the ugly face of AAP leaders involved in buying properties with black money, tax evasion, and bank loan frauds has now also surfaced. This is not the first case of financial wrongdoing by an AAP leader,” he added.