The Enforcement Directorate on Monday arrested Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in a money-laundering case, with the AAP terming it as an expression of “frustration by the BJP, which is losing Himachal Pradesh”.

Jain is AAP’s minder for the poll-bound state.

Previously as the minister for public works, Jain has been credited with completing several constructions below the estimated cost and refurbishing schools and hospitals.

Last month, the ED had attached assets worth Rs 4.81 crore of Jain’s extended family and companies as part of a money-laundering probe against him based on an FIR registered by the CBI for alleged corruption in 2017. The CBI probe has made no headway despite two raids on Jain.

“Investigation by ED revealed that during the period 2015-16, when Satyendar Kumar Jain was a public servant, the above mentioned companies beneficially owned and controlled by him received accommodation entries to the tune of Rs.4.81 crore from shell companies against cash transferred to Kolkata based entry operators through Hawala route. These amounts were utilized for direct purchase of land or for the repayment of loan taken for purchase of agricultural land in and around Delhi,” the ED said in statement.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh said Jain was called for questioning at the ED headquarters and later placed under arrest. “This is a fabricated and baseless case. We will fight well for HP. The BJP is losing Himachal and this is them showing their frustration,” he said.

Party sources said Jain was summoned seven times in 2018 and had not been called by the ED since then. They added that Jain had resigned from the companies in question in 2013.

The party had an inkling of Jain’s imminent arrest.

In January, AAP national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had in a webcast said: “We have gotten to know through our sources that the BJP government is forcing the ED to arrest Delhi’s health minister Satyendar Jain before the Punjab elections. They are trying to frame him in false and imaginary charges so they can hurt AAP’s electoral frays.”

The BJP demanded that Jain be sacked. Referring to the recent dismissal of a minister for corruption in AAP-ruled Punjab, BJP spokesman Baijayant Panda said: “Are such gimmicks limited to the party’s new entrants in a place like Punjab where they are building a false narrative of honesty? Don’t the same rules apply to the AAP’s old hands who are involved in massive corruption in Delhi?”