When things get complicated it’s the Enforcement Directorate’s Additional Director Kapil Raj to the rescue. A favourite with his bosses, he’s the man they have on speed dial to investigate difficult, sensitive and big-ticket cases.
Someone who maintains a low profile and has an avid interest in history and chess, Kapil Raj is among the agency’s most seasoned investigators, who gives a unique dimension to cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Gifted with an uncanny ability to sniff out the faintest of money trails he works quietly behind the scenes to come up with surprising results where none are expected - from extracting the confession of a suspected terrorist to gathering evidence against high-profile suspects.
On Thursday night, when the ED interrogated and arrested Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Adami Party (AAP) boss Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor scam case involving alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped, it was Kapil Raj who led from the front.
A 2009 batch official of the Indian Revenue Service (Custom) Kapil Raj joined the ED in 2016 to quickly rise to the rank of additional joint director. Ironically, this IRS officer had to oversee the dramatic arrest of Kejriwal, another IRS officer-turned-politician.
Over the months, from avoiding summons to deploying the best legal brains to get relief from courts, Kejriwal tried everything to evade charges in the money laundering probe against him.
But Kapil Raj, who is supervising the liquor scam investigation, managed to collect a mountain of evidence. Politics apart, what the AAP and other opposition leaders are trying to project is a case of systematic victimisation of opposition leaders by the Narendra Modi government. But the ED, it’s claimed, has credibly established Kejriwal as the mastermind behind the liquor scam.
No paper trail is usually left behind in high-profile cases, but Kapil Raj dug deep to uncover the last layer of evidence. Kejriwal is not the first CM Kapil Raj has investigated. He has probed the money laundering case against former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, who was arrested in January this year for allegedly grabbing an 8.6 acre land parcel.
When ED took charge of investigating a seemingly routine Ranchi police FIR against Jharkhand state revenue department official Bhanu Pratap Prasad, top bosses of the agency had no inkling that it would lead to Soren being put behind bars.
Despite one of India’s top and most expensive lawyers, Kapil Sibal appearing Soren, his arguments fell flat before Kapil Raj’s investigations.
It is no coincidence then that investigations in high profile cases, namely the Yes Bank scam, Bengal coal and cattle scam involving Abhishek Banerjee and Anubrata Mondal, alleged terror funding involving Nawab Malik, Jharkhand mining scam, Jharkhand MNREGA scam and the Indian Army land scam and many others are being investigated by him.
The opposition has been labelling ED an ‘instrument’ used by the BJP and the Modi government to target opposition parties. It is quite natural such cases will have some fallout resulting in officials facing collateral damage from political battles between the Central government and opposition-ruled states.
No wonder then that the syndicates of power brokers and mafias of Jharkhand tried to get Kapil Raj transferred from the ED when faced with the heat of the money laundering probe. Hemant Soren also lodged an FIR against him and other officials.
But Kapil Raj got an extension and applause for his work.
The West Bengal police also attempted to implicate Kapil Raj and other ED officials in various cases against several party leaders in Mamata Banerjee’s government.
Till date, however, Kapil Raj has been pursuing his cases single-mindedly following the briefs of his bosses. Many of those who know him see as a good officer who does his job professionally.
For others, he’s the Nemesis of scamsters, corrupt politicians and bureaucrats.
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