Assets of Manish Sisodia and others in Delhi liquor policy case have been seized
Assets worth over Rs 52 crore of jailed Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia and other accused in the Delhi liquor policy has been attached by the Enforcement Directorate, people familiar with the matter said.
The seized assets include those of Amandeep Singh Dhall, Rajesh Joshi, Gautam Malhotra and some others. Two properties of Mr Sisodia and his wife Seema, and Rs 11 lakh in their bank accounts have been seized too, sources said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) action comes a day after it arrested Delhi businessman Dinesh Arora, who is known to be close to Mr Sisodia.
The ED case linked to the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam is separate from the one being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
AAP leader Atishi said the centre has planted stories in the media to tarnish the image of Mr Sisodia. "One of the two flats that the ED seized was bought by Manish Sisodia in 2005, that is 18 years ago. The other flat was bought in 2018, the ED itself says so in their documents. This is many years before the new excise policy was even made," she said.
Mr Sisodia, the former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, and others face corruption allegations in bringing a new liquor sale policy in the national capital. Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had ordered the CBI probe last year.
Thereafter, the Delhi government reverted to the old liquor policy and blamed the Lieutenant Governor for loss of revenue worth crores of rupees that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government claimed would have come if the new policy had continued.
The BJP has said the Delhi government went back to the old liquor sale policy to cover up corruption in the excise department then held by Mr Sisodia.
The CBI is focusing on the alleged influence of a "South Lobby" of businessmen and politicians making the Delhi liquor policy to swing in their favour using middlemen, traders and bureaucrats.