Sanjay Singh, an Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP, was detained by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a probe into the Delhi liquor policy, dealing yet another setback to the party. Since early Wednesday morning, searches have been going on at the MP’s home in Delhi.
This is the third significant arrest for the group. Satyendar Jain, the minister of health for Delhi, was detained in May of last year on suspicion of using four purportedly connected firms to launder money.
However, the biggest setback for the party occurred in February of this year when Manish Sisodia, the then-Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and a close Arvind Kejriwal ally, was detained by the CBI in connection with an alleged liquor policy scam.
After being named by businessman Dinesh Arora, an accused party in the case who later turned “approver,” the raids against Mr. Singh were conducted.
The excise minister, Mr. Sisodia, was allegedly introduced to Mr. Arora by the AAP leader.
Early on Wednesday morning, search efforts started at the Rajya Sabha MP’s home and lasted for a few hours. Workers from the AAP arrived at his home and yelled insults at the BJP and the “misuse” of agencies. Additional police officers were dispatched to prevent the situation from escalating.
The Enforcement Directorate office is where Mr. Singh has been transported, and there his statement will be recorded. On Thursday afternoon, he will probably appear in court, when the agency will probably ask to take custody of him.
VIDEO | AAP MP Sanjay Singh taken away from his official residence after being arrested by the ED in Delhi excise policy case. pic.twitter.com/Bpho7ctjcW
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 4, 2023
While the raids were being performed, Delhi Chief Minister and leader of the AAP Arvind Kejriwal spoke out in favour of his colleague and accused the BJP—without naming it—of making frantic attempts to derail opponents ahead of the general election the next year.
“For a year, we have been hearing noise about the alleged liquor scam. More than 1,000 raids have been conducted and not a single paisa was recovered. They just keep alleging ‘scam’… I did a lot of investigation and found nothing,” Mr Kejriwal claimed.
“Nothing is going to be found from Sanjay Singh’s place too. Elections are coming and they feel (they) are losing… so it appears to be the last desperate attempt of the losing side,” he said.
Raghav Chadha made comparable accusations after the arrest and did not hesitate to criticise the BJP openly.
“They have been investigating the case for 15 months but have not been able to unearth even a single rupee of illegal money. So much time and so many resources have been expended but they haven’t been able to prove anything. This is just a political vendetta. The BJP knows it is losing,” he said.
Sanjay Singh has never been listed as a defendant by the Enforcement Directorate, despite the fact that it has filed numerous chargesheets in connection with the investigation and invited him to give a statement.
Months earlier, Mr Singh had posted a photo on X, formerly Twitter, of him standing next to posters outside his home “welcoming” the Enforcement Directorate to his “poor house”.
On Wednesday morning, the AAP reposted the image on X along with fire emojis.
Dinesh Singh, Sanjay Singh’s father, claimed that the family cooperated with the authorities and that nothing was discovered within the home. “I told Sanjay not to worry and that the truth will win. We are not worried about his arrest,” he said.
The Case
Both the CBI and the ED are looking into the liquor policy matter. The government withdrew from the retail sale of alcohol under the policy, which was established in November 2021, and permitted private licensees to operate stores. Asserting “undue benefits” to liquor licence holders in July 2022, Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar pointed to serious policy infractions.
The liquor policy and alleged “corruption” have also been a source of contention between the BJP and the AAP, as well as between Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena and the Delhi government.
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Source: NDTV
