On Saturday, the Enforcement Directorate questioned Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s personal assistant as part of its ongoing money laundering investigation into suspected anomalies in the now defunct excise policy. “The agency is questioning Devendra Sharma and recording his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)”, the ED said.
According to the reports, the ED officials conducted raids at Sharma’s residence. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia took cognizance of the incident and blatantly cornered the BJP for misusing the central agency. He said that his assistant had been arrested and that the arrest was made due to fear of defeat in elections.
“They raided my house by filing a false FIR, searched for bank lockers, and checked in my village but nothing was found against me anywhere. Today, they raided my PA’s house and did not find anything there, so now they have arrested him and taken him away. BJP people! So much fear of defeat in elections”, Sisodiya tweeted.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) listed Sisodia as an accused in an FIR filed in August over suspected anomalies in the Delhi liquor policy. On August 19, the CBI raided 31 locations around the country, including Sisodia’s home. While Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said it was an effort to coerce Sisodia and other MLAs into joining the BJP and destabilizing the government, the BJP denied the allegations.
The CBI summoned the Delhi minister for interrogation last month. Following this, Sisodia had claimed that after nine hours of questioning, he was forced to quit AAP and that the case against him intended to ensure the success of ‘Operation Lotus’.
However, the CBI later published a statement rejecting Sisodia’s accusations, claiming that he was examined only on the charges in the First Information Report and the material gathered throughout the investigation. The excise scheme came under scrutiny when the Delhi LG proposed a CBI investigation into potential anomalies in the execution of Delhi’s Excise Policy 2021-22. In addition, the LG suspended 11 excise officers.