Days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a First Information Report (FIR) against 15 people in connection to the Delhi Excise Policy scam, officials of the central agency are now investigating ‘toolkit modules’ that might have been used to stir positive response for the Delhi government’s liquor policy.
As per reports, the CBI has unearthed a maze of corporate companies, with similar addresses in Mumbai and connected to the ongoing liquor licensing scam in Delhi. Officials privy to the matter informed that there was prima-facie evidence of non-disclosure of material information under the Companies Act and financial wrongdoings.
The central agency is probing foreign remittances, and international travels of over 50 different people including social media influencers, businessmen, comic artists and entertainers. These entertainers were represented by Vijay Nair’s Only Much Louder (OML)
Financial dealings in cryptocurrencies and shares by Hyderabad-based individuals and companies, that obtained licences to sell liquor in Delhi, are also being investigated. Opindia had earlier reported how the former CEO of Only Much Louder, Vijay Nair, had been closely associated with the Aam Aadmi party.
He was accused of being “actively involved in irregularities in framing and implementation of the excise policy of GNCTD of Delhi for the year 2021-22.”
Toolkits have been in existence since farmer protests
The monicker ‘Toolkit’ which has become a shorthand for coercive action, targeting or instigating an online lynch-mob to threaten a person or institution was first popularised by infamous global climate activist Greta Thunberg. She had inadvertently revealed the sinister global campaign against India after she shared a ‘Toolkit’ in a tweet during the Farmer’s protests in India in 2021.
The document shared by Greta Thunberg listed a series of actions that people across the world could take to pressurise the Indian Government over the cause of agitating Farmers. Earlier, celebrities and politicians including Rihanna, Greta Thunberg, Mia Khalifa and Canadian MP Jagmeet and others had come forward in support of the farmer protests. But the document shared by Greta had made it clear that it is part of a larger conspiracy to cause unrest in India.
Later, in May 2021, A new Congress toolkit was circulating on social media that contained ways to craft a deliberate narrative to paint the Kumbh Mela as a “super-spreader” event for coronavirus while maintaining a carefully crafted silence over massive Eid gatherings.
The toolkit asked to “Collaborate in advance with friendly journalists on social media to immediately amplify these messages,” directed to its workers. Recently, India witnessed a systematic effort to internationalise the Nupur Sharma saga and damage ties with Arab nations.