The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is conducting searches at nearly 10 locations, including the residence of Delhi Cheif Minister Arvind Kejriwal's personal secretary Bibhav Kumar, as part of its money laundering probe in the Delhi excise policy case.
The locations of Bibhav Kumar, former Delhi Jal Board member Shalabh Kumar, AAP Treasurer and MP ND Gupta are among those being covered by the officials of the central probe agency.
The ED raids come days after AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal skipped the fifth summon by ED in connection with the money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy or the liquor policy "scam".
AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, party's Sanjay Singh, and Satyendar Jain are the biggest arrests in the case being probed by ED. The Delhi government had implemented the new excise policy on November 17, 2021, but scrapped it at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption.
According to the investigating agencies, the profit margin of wholesalers was increased from five per cent to 12 per cent under the new policy.
The probe agencies have alleged that the new policy resulted in cartelisation and those ineligible for liquor licences were favoured for monetary benefits. However, the AAP-led Delhi government and Manish Sisodia have denied any wrongdoing and said the new policy would have led to an increase in the city government's revenue.
Reacting to the raids, AAP leader and Delhi Minister Atishi says BJP want to suppress the party through central agencies, adding that they are "will not be afraid."
"For the last 2 years, AAP leaders are being threatened. In the name of this so-called liquor scam, someone's house is raided, someone gets summons and someone is arrested...Even after hundreds of raids in two years, ED has not been able to recover even a single rupee. Even after two years, ED has not found any concrete evidence and the court has also repeatedly asked that evidence should be presented...," Atishi said.
