Aam Aadmi Party's senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha today slammed the action taken by probe agency Enforcement Directorate or ED to raid Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence over the Delhi Excise Policy 'scam' case. Mr Kejriwal was subsequently arrested hours after the raid.
At around 7 pm this evening, the Enforcement Directorate reached Arvind Kejriwal's residence in Delhi's Civil Lines. Mr Kejriwal was questioned and his residence searched by the probe agency. His laptop and mobile phone as well as his wife's mobile phone have been confiscated and checked for possible evidence, and the data from the devices were recorded by the probe agency.
The Delhi Police has imposed section 144 near Arvind Kejriwal's residence which prohibits four or more people to gather or protest.
In a post on micro-blogging site X, Raghav Chadha wrote, "A big conspiracy is going on to arrest Arvind Kejriwal just before the Lok Sabha elections. Mr Kejriwal has the blessings of crores of people and no one can touch him."
He further wrote, "The wonderful works done in Delhi and Punjab are being discussed all over the world today. You can arrest Arvind Kejriwal's body but not his thinking and ideology."
AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi also strongly condemned the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) move.
In a big setback to Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi High Court declined to give protection from arrest to him. The court, however, ordered the ED to reply to Mr Kejriwal's fresh petition and listed the matter to April 22.
The Delhi Liquor Policy 'scam' case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped. The Enforcement Directorate has said that "By the acts of corruption and conspiracy in the formulation and implementation of Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, a continuous stream of illegal funds in the form of kickback, from the wholesalers was generated for the AAP."
Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was arrested in connection with the case in February last year, and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh was taken into custody in October.
The Delhi Chief Minister has now approached the Supreme Court for an urgent hearing.
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