An incident of stone pelting on Vande Bharat Express train has been reported from West Bengal in which window panes of a coach of the high-speed train were damaged, Eastern Railway said in a statement.
The incident was reported to have taken place near Farrakka in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, late evening on saturday. “This is a very unfortunate incident. It will be investigated,” Kausik Mitra, CPRO, Eastern Railway siad. An inquiry has been ordered, official added.
Visuals accesed by ANI shows window panes of high-speed train being damaged as stones were allegedly thrown at the train near Howrah station.
In January 2023, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) informed that two window panes of the Vande Bharat Express train were left damaged after stones were allegedly pelted on the two coaches near the Phansidewa area of the Darjeeling district. This was the second attack as earlier in the same month the Vande Bharat Express window panes were broken as stones were thrown at the train connecting Howrah to New Jalpaiguri near Malda.
The RPF Commander had informed that the incident happened near the Phansidewa area in the Darjeeling district.
“Windows of coach C3 and C6 of Vande Bharat Express were found damaged due to stone pelting. It was found, windows were damaged near Phansidewa area in Darjeeling district when the train was moving towards New Jalpaiguri,” he had said.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
On Saturday, a Japanese woman who was subjected to harassment by a group of men on Holi expressed her thoughts on the incident via Twitter, describing it as “unfortunate”.
On Thursday, the woman shared a video of the incident on Twitter. However, she deleted it shortly afterward. Regarding this, she explained that she was “terrified” by the responses to the video, and thus decided to remove the tweet.
“On March 9th, I tweeted a video of the Indian festival Holi, but after that, the number of RTs and DMs increased more than I had imagined, and I was terrified, so I deleted the tweet. I sincerely apologize to those who were offended by the video,” she tweeted.
“I had heard that it was very dangerous for a woman to go out alone during the daytime at the Holi festival, an Indian festival that I participated in, so I participated in the event with a total of 35 other friends,” she said.
The video depicts several men playing Holi with a foreign girl who appears to be ‘uncomfortable’ with their conduct.
The woman also praised Holi stating, “The original Holi festival is a wonderful and fun traditional festival with the purpose of celebrating the arrival of spring by pouring colored powder and water on each other and enjoying it regardless of skin color or social status. (There are various theories)”
The woman, however, apologised for causing concern and anxiety by sharing videos on social media, stating that the aim was to convey positive aspects of the Indian festival and not the negative ones.
“However, I sincerely apologize for causing concern to many people through videos and Twitter. I would like to express my sincere apologies for causing concern and anxiety in many ways, even though my goal was to convey the positive aspects and joys of India. really sorry,” she tweeted.
Additionally, the woman conveyed her affection for India and stated, “I adore everything about India. I have visited the country numerous times, and it never fails to fascinate me. India and Japan will always be ‘Tomodachi’ (friends).”
The Delhi Police had apprehended three people in relation to the molestation and abuse of the woman after the video posted by her had gone viral on social media. One of the offenders is a juvenile and all three are from the Paharganj area of central Delhi. She didn’t file a complaint against anyone yet, they had added.
A clash took place took place between groups of two communities in Sambhal district in Uttar Pradesh over an incident of a hitting a buffalo with sticks. The incident took place on Saturday, leading to stone-pelting from both the Hindu and Muslim sides. The incident took place in Kamalpur village which comes under the Bahjoi police station.
According to reports, the two groups also hit each other with lathis during the fight. Six people, including women, received injuries and were transported to a local hospital.
A massive police force was deployed in the area to bring the situation under control. The cops have already taken 22 people into custody. The people involved in the brawl were apparently intoxicated. The matter is now under further investigation.
According to reports, the clash started with a very trivial matter. On Saturday morning, a buffalo belonging to a person from one community was hit with a stick by a man from the other community. The buffalo was whacked because it was blocking the path. Following that, the community of the buffalo owner got enraged, and they argued with the other community over the matter.
Soon the matter escalated to physical fight, where the two groups started pelting stones and hitting each other with sticks. One side in the fight was Muslim Teli community, while the other was Hindu Kashi community. The fight was stopped after the police reached the spot.
The Sambhal district superintendent of police, Chakresh Mishra, gave details of the incident and stated, “The Muslim and Hindu sides had a dispute over hitting a buffalo.” He said that the people involved in the fight were intoxicated. Mishra further said that a total of 22 people had been arrested, and a case has been registered in order to take the necessary action. He mentioned that police were dispatched in the region because of the commotion in the locality. “All of the injured are currently stable, normal, and still receiving medical attention,” he added.
However, some villages are giving another angle to the incident. According to them, the clash erupted over the construction of a temple. It is being alleged that the temple is being constructed without permission, which triggered the clash. The police said they are investigating all the angles.
On Saturday, March 11, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) informed that they had recovered unaccounted cash of Rs 1 Crore, foreign currency including USD 1900 (₹1.55 lakh), 540 gms gold bullion and more than 1.5 kg of gold jewellery in the raids it carried out on Friday in multiple cities of Bihar against former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family in connection with the land for job scam case.
The federal investigation agency added that the searches resulted in the detection of Proceeds of Crime amounting to Rs 600 Crore approximately at this point in time.
“Searches resulted in detection of Proceeds of Crime amounting to Rs 600 Crore approximately at this point of time which is in the form of immovable properties of Rs 350 Crore and transactions of Rs 250 Crore routed through various benamidaars,” the ED said in a statement.
ED conducted searches at 24 locations in the Railways Land for Job Scam, resulting in recovery of unaccounted cash of Rs 1 Crore, foreign currency including US$ 1900, 540 gms gold bullion and more than 1.5 kg of gold jewellery.
The Enforcement Directorate Friday conducted searches at 24 locations in Delhi NCR, Patna, Mumbai and Ranchi in the Railways Land for Job Scam. It had also raided the Delhi residence of Tejashwi Yadav, the deputy chief minister of Bihar, in connection with the land for jobs scam investigation. The searches were done based on specific intelligence inputs.
Along with Tejashwi Yadav’s house, searches also took place at the residence of former RJD MLA Syed Abu Dojana at Phulwari Sharif in Patna. Premises linked to Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughters Misa Bharti, Rohini Acharya, Ragini Yadav, Chanda Yadav, and Hema Yadav were also reportedly searched by the ED.
According to the agency, it has also recovered a number of other incriminating documents, including various property documents, sale deeds held in the names of family members, and benamidars suggesting the illicit acquisition of large land banks. Apart from these, electronic devices were also seized during the raids.
According to a press release issued by the ED, the inquiry has found that multiple plots of property in prominent places in Patna and other localities were illegally obtained by the family of then-Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in exchange for jobs in the railways. The department said that the present market value of these land parcels is more than Rs 200 crore.
According to the agency, the probe revealed that a property in New Friends Colony in Delhi, registered in the name of M/s A B Exports Private Limited, a firm owned and controlled by Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and his family, was purchased for merely Rs four lakhs. It was stated that the current market value of this property is about Rs 150 crores. ED also found that this property was being used as a residence of Tejashwi Yadav, even though it is registered in the name of his firm and declared as an office.
“It is suspected that a huge amount of cash/Proceeds of Crime has been infused in purchasing this property and few Mumbai-based entities, dealing in the gems and jewellery sector were used to channel ill-gotten proceeds of crime in this regard. The property has been though, on paper declared as office of M/s A B Exports Private Limited and M/s AK Infosystems Pvt ltd, it is being exclusively used as residential premises by Tejasvi Prasad Yadav, son of Lalu Prasad Yadav. During the searches, Tejasvi Prasad Yadav was found to be staying at this house and was found to be using this house as his residential property,” the ED statement said.
The ED further added that it has found that 4 parcels of lands acquired by the family of Lalu Yadav in just Rs 7.5 Lakhs from poor Group-D applicants were sold to Syed Abu Dojana, Ex-RJD MLA by Rabri Devi with huge gains at Rs 3.5 crore in a collusive deal.
“ED investigation further revealed that a major portion of the amount thus received, was transferred to the account of Sh. Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. Investigations revealed that in a similar fashion, lands were taken from several poor parents and candidates in lieu of Group D jobs in the Railways. It has been revealed during the investigation that in many Railways Zones, more than 50% of recruited candidates were from Lalu Yadav families’ constituencies. Further investigation in this regard is ongoing,” it said.
1458 sales deeds recovered, ‘Gifted’ land deeds signed by Rabri Devi as beneficiary accessed
It may be recalled that last year, CBI probing the land-for-job scam that dates back to Lalu Yadav’s tenure as the Union Railways Minister, recovered as many as 1458 sales deeds during the raids at the premises of several RJD leaders in Bihar.
CBI sources had then said that the agency is also in possession of a hard disk that has a list of candidates who gave their lands to Lalu Yadav in lieu of jobs in the Railways.
It was further reported that Bhola Yadav, the then OSD to former Railway Minister Lalu Yadav, confirmed to the agency that several candidates, despite forged documents, got appointed in Railways after they allegedly gifted land to the Lalu Yadav family when the RJD supremo was the Railway Minister in the UPA government.
Meanwhile, Republic TV has accessed ‘gifted’ land deeds that have the signature of Lalu Prasad Yadav’s wife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi as the beneficiary.
The land-for-job scam and its alleged links to Lalu Prasad Yadav
It may be recalled that the CBI initiated a preliminary enquiry in September 2021 into the charges that when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the railway minister during UPA 1, he obtained benefits in the form of the transfer of property in the names of his family members in exchange for the appointments of substitutes in Group “D” posts in various Railway zones. CBI had found that a number of residents of Patna obtained jobs in the Railways in different zones in the country after they had gifted, or sold at very low prices, lands in Patna, Delhi and other places, to Lalu Prasad Yadav’s family or to a company controlled by the family.
On May 18, 2022, CBI filed a new case of corruption against Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi, and his daughters Misa Bharti and Hema Yadav, accusing them of obtaining land plots as bribes from some people who were recruited in the Railways. The CBI also named 12 others in this case who were given jobs in the railway zones of Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Hajipur.
In the FIR, CBI alleged, “In lieu thereof, the substitutes, who were residents of Patna themselves or through their family members, sold and gifted their land situated at Patna in favour of the family members of Lalu Prasad Yadav and a private company controlled by family members, which was also involved in the transfer of such immovable properties in the name of family members.”
According to the agency, no advertisement or any public notice was issued for such appointment of substitutes in Zonal Railways, yet the appointees who were residents of Patna were appointed in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur, and Hajipur.
The CBI investigations revealed that Lalu’s family obtained over one lakh square feet of land in this manner for just Rs 26 lakh, despite the fact that the land’s actual value is over Rs 4.39 crore.
The land for Railways job scam is another major scam involving Lalu Prasad Yadav, after the well-known fodder scam. He has been convicted in multiple cases registered in the scam, while some other cases are still being head by courts.
Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave, who is known to take up cases in support of Muslim causes and against BJP and PM Modi, today alleged that the judiciary is compromised just because in select few cases, court judgements went in favour of Hindus or Narendra Modi. He made the comments while speaking on ‘Basic Structure Of Indian Constitution And The Present Day Challenges’ in Kochi at an event organised by Ernakulam Govt Law College Old Students and Teachers Association.
In his speech, Dushyant Dave talked against the system of the party winning a majority in elections ruling the country, alleging that a majority party might destroy the constitution using its powers. While over 100 amendments to the constitution have been done by the parliament, the senior advocate suggested that it should be stopped now, given that it is unlikely that Congress will come to power soon.
“I consider the constitution as sacred as the Bible, Quran or the Gita. So should it be amended?” he asked, suggesting that just like religious texts, the constitution of India should also be fixed. He added that amendments to the constitution should be done only after a referendum. It is notable that the constitution of India itself was adopted by the Constituent Assembly without any referendum, but now Dave is seeking referendum for amendments.
Dave: I consider the constitution as sacred as the Bible, Quran or the Gita. So should it be amended?
“Majoritarian parties be it under Indira Gandhi or under Modi can pass any law by using brute majority,” he added, calling for restricting the power of parliament to pass laws.
While the judiciary is being accused of overstepping on the domains of the executive and legislative, Dave defended the court’s activism, saying that judicial review is a part of the basic structure of the constitution, along with fundamental rights and other basic features.
He then went on to launch an attack on Narendra Modi, alleging that he wants to kill multi-party democracy. “PM Modi said he wants Congress mukt Bharat. What they want is an opposition mukt Dharat,” he alleged, completely misinterpreting what PM Modi means by Congress-mukt Bharat.
“We have democracy in form but not in substance. Look at targeted attacks on critics, even stand up comedians, minorities,” he continued, repeating the lies often repeated by the left liberal ecosystem. While it is non-NDA governments in West Bengal, Kerala and earlier in Maharashtra were leading the attacks on freedom of speech, Dave chose to blame the Modi government for the same. Not just that, he even claimed that Kerala is an exemption in this regard.
He then said that the parliament should not be allowed to amend the constitution. “If politicians are allowed to amend the Constitution as suited to their interests against the people, then ‘We The People’ cannot survive,” he claimed. “Constitutional principles must remain intact, political parties cannot be allowed to do whatever they want to do,” Dave further added.
Talking against legal actions against gangsters and mafia, he said that “constitutional methods are being used to destroy the constitution.”
He then mentioned few landmark judgements in recent past which went in favour of Hindus and BJP, and used to accuse the judiciary of being compromised. “Under CJI Gogoi, the government was given judgements after judgments in its favour Rafale, Ayodhya, CBI, in an attempt to cover up his sexual harrasment allegations,” he alleged.
Question: Do you not think the judiciary failed us in the last few year? Dave : Under CJI Gogoi, the government was given judgements after judgments in its favour Rafale, Ayodhya, CBI, in an attempt to cover up his sexual harrasment allegations.
Dushyant Dave said that while the government is not favour of the collegium system for the appointment of judges, there is no other suitable system to ensure the independence of judiciary. However, then he went to add that “the collegium members are themselves influenced by certain political ideologies.”
He then suggested that judges should be prohibited from taking up positions after retirement to prevent biases from judges. “Justice Nazeer being made Governor is a clear case of quid pro quo,” he alleged, referring to the recent appointment of former Karnataka High Court Judge retired Justice Abdul Nazeer as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh.
On Thursday (March 9), the Islamist outfit Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) announced that it has murdered 36 Christians in Mukondi village in North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
ADF with close ties with the terror outfit, ISIS, stated that the killings were targeted at “Christians”. The Islamist outfit added that the murders were executed using guns and knives and that the properties of the deceased were destroyed.
According to local authorities, at least 45 people were killed in a series of attacks on different villages by the Allied Democratic Forces. It must be mentioned that the ADF has been active primarily in North Kivu province but has recently extended its operations to Ituri province and Goma.
Dead bodies lowered into a mass grave, image via Associated Press/ Socrate Mumbere
On Thursday (March 9), Associated Press reporters witnessed bodies being lowered into a mass grave in Mukondi while community members shovelled dirt over the bodies against a backdrop of destroyed houses.
“The rebels came and they first burned houses. Then everyone who came out of his house was either cut up with machetes or shot dead,” a resident of the Mukondi village, named Saddam Patangoli, informed.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo has condemned the killings and is urging the authorities to investigate the matter. Efforts to stop the violence carried out by ADF have yielded minimal results despite the nearly year-long joint operation by Uganda and Congo’s armies.
US announces a reward of $5 million for the successful capture of ADF supremo
Besides murders, ADF has been involved in raping, maiming and abducting civilians including children. The US government has recently offered a reward of up to $5 million for any information that could lead to the capture of the ADF leader, Seka Musa Baluku.
The ongoing violence in the region continues to claim many lives, and a concerted effort is needed to put an end to the senseless killings and restore peace to the area. Opindia has reported about the killing of 30 people by the ADF in November 2020.
Swati Maliwal, Aam Aadmi Party leader and the chief of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), has said that she was sexually assaulted by her father when she was a child. She claimed the experience left a lasting impact on her, and therefore she was driven to fight for the rights of women as a result.
She made narrated her childhood ordeal speaking to journalists after the DCW International Women’s Day Awards ceremony. She said that she became emotional from the stories of the awardees, as all of them are powerful stories, and the awardees have done a lot of struggle.
After that she continued, “I was sexually assaulted by my own father when I was a child. I was very small at that time. My father used to beat me up and I used to hide under the bed to save myself,” she said.
“While hiding under the bed, I used to think how I will teach a lesson to such men who abuse women and children, and how I can help women get their rights,” Swati Maliwal further said.
She said that her father used to grad her hair and slam her against the wall, causing her injuries. “This happened till I was in Class 4,” she added.
#WATCH | "I was sexually assaulted by my father when I was a child. He used to beat me up, I used to hide under the bed," DCW chief Swati Maliwal expresses her ordeal alleging her father sexually assaulted her during childhood pic.twitter.com/GsUqKDh2w8
The DCW chief mentioned her own childhood story while referring to the viral videos of harassment of women during Holi. She added that the DCW has issued a notice to the Delhi Police to probe the videos and nab the perpetrators.
“A video went viral on the internet where some men were applying Holi colours to a Japanese woman, she was feeling harassed, molested and screaming for help. Those men did not stop. We are issuing a notice to Delhi Police. Those men should be identified and put behind jail,” said the DCW chief.
Swati Maliwal’s revelations came after Khushbu Sundar, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and a member of the National Commission for Women, had made similar allegations against her own father. Khushbu Sundar earlier today said that she was sexually abused by her father when she was a child, and she is not ashamed about the incident as she came out with honesty.
“I have not made a startling statement. I think that was an honesty which I have come out with. I am not ashamed of what I have said because this has happened to me and I think the perpetrator needs to be ashamed for what he has done,” the BJP leader told ANI when asked about her statement about being sexually abused by her father at the age of eight.
Sundar further said that with her revelation she wants women to speak about what has happened to them.
“I think I need to send the message across that you have to be strong and take control of yourself and not let anything bring you down or think that this is the end of the road. If I have taken so many years to speak about it, I think women need to speak about it and tell them this has happened to me and I will continue my journey, no matter what,” she added.
Several members of Bhartiya Janta Party were detained by Rajasthan Police on Saturday in Jaipur after the party organized a major demonstration against the Congress government protesting against the arrest of widows of martyrs of the 2019 Pulwama terror attack. The BJP leaders were marching towards CM Ashok Gehlot’s residence as part of their protest when they were detained by police.
Rajasthan | BJP holds a protest in Jaipur over the matter of protest by widows of the jawans who lost their lives in the 2019 Pulwama terror attack. pic.twitter.com/wz77cEgpqo
Rajendra Rathore, the deputy leader of the opposition (LoP) in the legislative assembly, Satish Poonia, state BJP chief, as well as a few other members and office bearers of the party have been taken into custody by the police.
Rathore declared that ‘we started the protest today and we will keep going’. He added that the state government’s actions were an affront to democracy and that we will continue our protests against them throughout the entire state.
We have initiated the protest today and we will continue it. The kind of behaviour the state govt is showcasing is an insult to democracy, we will take the protest against the govt further in all corners of the state: Rajasthan Dy LoP Rajendra Rathore pic.twitter.com/wDFwU2vwrK
Satish Poonia proclaimed that their protest is in response to the insults directed at the party leaders and the wives of the Pulwama martyrs. He announced that they will organize a ‘Jana Aakrosh’ campaign in the state where the party will bring up issues like corruption and swindling of farmer loans.
Rajasthan | Our leaders & wives of Pulwama martyrs were insulted, we’re staging a protest against this. There will be a ‘Jana Aakrosh’ campaign in Rajasthan in upcoming days where we will raise issues like weaving off farmers’ loans, corruption: Satish Poonia, Rajasthan BJP chief pic.twitter.com/onwUPanDY3
The BJP called for a protest after its Rajya Sabha Member Kirodi Lal Meena got into an altercation with the police while he was on his way to meet the widows of the three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans, yesterday.
दुर्भाग्य है @PoliceRajasthan ने आज मुझे सामोद हनुमानजी के दर्शन नहीं करने दिए व शिष्टाचार को भूल मुझसे अभद्र व्यवहार किया है। मेरा अपराध केवल इतना है कि मैं वीरांगनाओं के साथ खड़ा होकर उनके आंसू पोंछ रहा हूं।
The senior BJP leader was rushed to Sawai Man Singh (SMS) hospital in Jaipur after he reportedly sustained injuries. The party has been at the forefront of the protest.
वीरांगनाओं के अधिकार के लिए शांतिपूर्ण तरीके से आंदोलन कर रहे राज्यसभा सांसद @DrKirodilalBJP जी के साथ पुलिस की ज्यादती अलोकतांत्रिक है; गहलोत सरकार का तानाशाही रवैया दुराचार की पराकाष्ठा है। आज सवाई मानसिंह अस्पताल पहुँच डॉ. किरोडी लाल मीणा जी की कुशलक्षेम जानी। pic.twitter.com/jE3um9vFCE
The widows were taken into custody early on Friday morning while they were protesting outside the house of Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot. The police sent them back to their towns.
The state government recently come under fire for assaulting the protesting widows when a video of the violence went viral on social media. Rekha Sharma, the chairman of the National Commission for Women (NCW), wrote to Umesh Mishra, the director general of police (DGP) for Rajasthan, asking that he personally look into the matter.
The widows of soldiers who lost their lives in the Pulwama terror attack in 2019 are protesting against the non-fulfillment of promises made to them by the Rajasthan government. The women have been protesting since February 28 and launched an indefinite hunger strike demanding a change in rules so that their relatives and not just children can get government jobs on compassionate grounds.
A 27-year-old married lady from Saundana village in Beed, Maharashtra, was brutally raped, starved, and her menstruation blood was sold for Rs 50,000 to be used in some witchcraft procedures. The state officials on Friday confirmed the event.
Manisha Kayande, an MLC for the Shiv Sena (UBT), brought up the matter in the Maharashtra Legislative Council and called for severe punishment for those responsible for the crime, which strangely surfaced on the eve of International Women’s Day on Tuesday.
According to the reports, the Vishrantwadi police station in Pune has filed an FIR against seven suspects, including the victim’s husband and his parents. This is after the woman’s maternal family’s insisted and sought justice in the case.
“The victim has stated in her complaint that she was starved for three days during her monthly periods and her menstrual blood was collected and sold to someone for Rs 50,000 for some black magic purposes,” Kayande said.
The woman mentioned in the complaint that since their love marriage in 2019, her husband and in-laws had been abusing her for a variety of reasons, while the specific justifications, such as dowry demands or other factors – were unknown.
“After this she filed a domestic violence complaint against her husband and mother-in-law. Following a police complaint, her in-laws took her into custody and took her to her native village in Beed district for burial in 2021. In 2022, while the woman’s husband was out for work, her mother demanded her menstrual blood. After hearing this strange story, the woman asked how can you ask me for such things,” informed the police.
She said that recently, while she was having her monthly periods, her in-laws had tied her up, collected her menstrual blood using cotton swabs, and then sold it for Rs 50,000 to a witchcraft practitioner.
The Pune police have booked all the suspects under sections 377, 354 (a), 498 (a), 504, 323 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and sections of Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and the Black Magic Act. Further inquiry in the case seems to be on. Chandrakant Patil, the BJP’s Pune Guardian Minister, has also expressed outrage at the occurrence of the incident and has instructed the police to implement the toughest laws for all those guilty.
On Friday, 10th March 2023, a Delhi court remanded former deputy chief minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till 17th March 2023. The federal investigative agency, which is probing the money laundering angle in the excise policy scam, in its remand notice presented before the court while seeking the custody of the AAP leader on March 10, revealed that Sisodia tweaked the excise policy according to the whims of the ‘South Group‘ in exchange for an upfront advance kickback of Rs 100 crore.
The money was allegedly given to one Vijay Nair, the communication incharge of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), at a South Delhi hotel by representatives of the ‘South Group’.
The policy, which was later scrapped, was designed to provide undue benefits to ‘South Group’, the liquor cartel, comprising of Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, a YSR Congress MP from Ongole constituency in Andhra Pradesh; his son Magunta Raghava Reddy; Sarath Reddy, a non-executive director, of Aurobindo Pharma; and K. Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
“Proceeds of the crime of at least Rs 292.8 crore (calculated as on date which is likely to increase during the course of the investigation) is attributable in respect of the role of Manish Sisodia…”, the ED said in its remand papers while seeking his custody.
The ED further said that Sisodia, “conspired with other persons and was actively involved in the formation of faulty policy against kickbacks…Sisodia has played role in the generation, transfer, and concealment of the proceeds of crime and projected the same as untainted.”
The ED claimed in a small tabular column that while Rs 100 crore was received as kickbacks from the liquor cartel’s ‘South Group,’ an accused company in the case, Indospirits, made a profit of Rs 192.8 crore from the proceeds of crime generated by the irregularities in the excise policy 2021-22.
Screenshot from the ED remand notice presented before the court
The remand notice further revealed that Sisodia, on the recommendation of the ‘South Group’, changed the profit for wholesalers from 5% to 12% besides providing for higher turnover eligibility.
How it all began
In 2020, an expert committee was constituted to make suggestions for the new excise policy. The Expert Committee was chaired by Ravi Dhawan, the then Excise Commissioner. The other members were Deputy Commissioner (Excise) and Additional Commissioner (Trade & Taxes). The committee submitted the report with its recommendations on 13th October 2020.
The committee recommended:
Separating the manufacturer from wholesale operations and handing it to one government entity which will handle the entire wholesale operation in Delhi.
Individual-run private retail liquor vends were to be opened through a lottery system.
The limited entity model in retail (wherein a limited number of entities of a pre-defined net worth and solvency are allocated retail licenses through a bidding process) was rejected as the same would lead to cartelization.
These recommendations were not to the liking of Manish Sisodia so the mechanism of GoM was adopted to change the recommendations of the expert committee. The GoM constituted Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain (ex-Delhi Health Minister, currently in jail in connection with a money laundering case) and Kailash Gehlot (Minister of Transport).
The Enforcement Department in the remand notice said that the GoM arbitrarily prepared the draft and placed it before the council of Ministers in March 2021 and directed the excise department to implement the report and prepare the Excise police 2020-2021.
However, during the investigation, it was discovered that, contrary to the recommendations made in the GoM report, a number of cartels were formed in the Delhi liquor business during the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, in which one group/person effectively controlled manufacturing, wholesale, and retail entities in the liquor business, and the majority of the manufacturers, wholesalers (L1), and Retail zone licensees (L7) were involved. Each cartel was made up of a large number of entities, people, and so on, including proxy ownership, sleeping partners, concealed investments, and so on.
“Moreover, public opinion/comments were not sought on the report of the GoM that was placed on March 22, 2021, even though the GoM revamped the excise policy framework completely and had a considerable time gap (3 months) between when the policy was finalised and uploaded on July 5, 2021, which exposes the mala fide intention and conspiracy of Sisodia and reflects that he was seeking the public comments and suggestions as merely an eyewash,” the ED claimed.
Manish Sisodia’s role in the creation and implementation of Excise policy to permit unlawful earnings to specific parties in exchange for kickbacks
“Manish Sisodia got the policy formulated and implemented in a way so as to allow illegal gains to certain persons/entities against kickbacks. He took various decisions as a part of GoM and as the Excise Minister which ultimately resulted in huge loss to the exchequer and illegal gains to specific persons/entities against kickbacks,” the ED remand notice read, as it presented a table highlighting how the recommendations made by the expert committee was not taken into consideration by Manish Sisodia in the GoM report.
Manish Sisodia went against the expert committee’s recommendations and changed the profit margin for wholesalers to 12% from the previous profit margin of 5%.
Screenshot from the ED remand notice presented before the court
“The deviation from the Expert committee is not a simple policy matter but is surrounded by conspiracy, kickbacks and undue favours. The proposed deviations were to give undue/illegal benefits to the certain manufacturers/wholesalers/retailers as a result of conspiracy against kickbacks,” said ED highlighting some of the grave irregularities committed in the formulation and execution/implementation of Excise Policy found during the course of investigation most of which were against the recommendations of Expert Committee
Giving wholesale business to private entities
Allowing huge benefits to retailers
Allowing huge benefits to wholesalers
The ED said the objectives of the excise policy were made to appear grand but were diluted in the L1 terms and conditions.
“Sisodia/GoM gave the wholesale business to private players and fixed the profit margin to 12 per cent without any valid reasons with an intent to benefit the South Group to enable them to recoup the bribes,” it said.
Seeking public opinion a mere eyewash, tweaked definition of existing terms in the policy to allow cartelization
The ED said that though the total sales of liquor “actually increased in the new policy period (17.11.2021-31.08.2022) as compared to the similar period in the last 3 years, it led to a reduction in the licence fee to be deposited by license holders as they got relief of Rs 719 crore from the excise department on the ground that they were not able to open shops in non-conforming areas.
It added that Manish Sisodia went against the suggestions of the expert committee and the public comments.
“Manish Sisodia went against the suggestions of the expert committee and public comments. Moreover, public opinion/comments were not sought on the report of the GoM that was placed on 22nd March, 2021, even though the GoM revamped the Excise policy framework completely had considerable time gap (3 months) between the policy was finalized and uploaded on 05.07.2021, which exposes the malafide intention and conspiracy of the Sh. Manish Sisodia and reflect that seeking the public comments and suggestions was merely an eyewash,” the federal investigation department concluded.
The central agency further alleged that Manish Sisodia tweaked the definitions of some important existing terms for example ‘Related Persons’ in the new excise policy with criminal intent and in conspiracy with the manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers to allow cartelization. The cartels thus formed were intentionally promoted to receive kickbacks in return.
Revealing how Manish Sisodia tweaked the 2020-2021 Excise policy without taking the expert committee recommendations into consideration, the Enforcement Directorate remand note stated that Sisodia had called C Arvind, ex-excise commissioner and secretary to Sisodia, to the residence of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on March 18, 2021, and handed over to him a 30-page document of recommendations which were never discussed in the GoM meetings and directed C Arvind to prepare the first draft of the new excise policy based on this document.
The ED disclosed that this document indicated that wholesale licences be granted to manufacturers’ representatives (private players), that one wholesale license holder can be a distributor for any number of manufacturers, and that the wholesale profit margin be set at 12%. “These points were never discussed in the GoM meetings and it was the first time that he (C Arvind) saw these points mentioned in the document handed over to him at CM’s residence.”
“In view of the above, the conspiracy of Sh. Manish Sisodia to give wholesale business to private entities and fix 12% margin to get 6% kickback out from the same is clear as there was neither any discussion in the GoM meetings about giving wholesale to private entities nor fixing 12% profit margin for them,” the remand notice read.
Screenshot from the ED remand notice presented before the court
Manish Sisodia’s role in the conspiracy to allow illegal benefits in lieu of advance kickback of Rs 100 crores
According to the remand note, Manish Sisodia and other AAP leaders entered into an agreement with the ‘South Group’ through their representative Vijay Nair in which the South Group was allowed to get illegal benefits such as a partnership in Indospirits (L1), making Indospirits the distributor of one of the largest manufacturer Pernod Ricard, allowing South Group to control multiple retail zones, and so on.
The ED outlined the chronology of events surrounding the conspiracy in the subsequent pages of the remand note. It said that the Excise Policy Scam includes many branches, involving numerous corporate firms, individuals, groups, senior government officials, and a slew of middlemen.
The scam began with the drafting of the Excise Policy for 2021-22, by Sisodia and other AAP leaders, with the goal of generating illegal funds, which was followed by a nexus/understanding between key players in the South Group and Vijay Nair, of payment of advance kickbacks from the former to the latter in exchange for undue favours.
Next, for the hidden goal of recouping and recovering the kickbacks paid, apparently simple business entities are used.
The plot was masterminded by Vijay Nair (representative of Manish Sisodia and other AAP leaders) and the South Group (comprising of Sarath Reddy, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, Raghav Magunta and K Kavitha, who were represented by Arun Pillai, Abhishek Boinpally and Buchi Babu).
The new Excise Policy for 2021-22 established an extraordinary 12% profit margin for wholesalers and about 185% profit margin for retailers. As part of the scheme, 6% of the 12% margin was to be collected from wholesalers as a kickback to AAP leaders. The South Group, on the other hand, paid this bribe to the tune of 100 crores in advance to Vijay Nair, who was managing this scheme and conspiracy on behalf of the AAP officials.
In exchange for this advance kickback payment, Vijay Nair ensured that the South Group secured shares in wholesale enterprises, despite the fact that they had no hold/base in the Delhi liquor market. He made certain that they were permitted to have several retail licences in excess of what was permitted under the Excise Policy, as well as that they were granted other undue privileges.
One of the entities that partook in the sharing stakes with the South Group was M/s Indo Spirits of Sameer Mahandru. Sameer Mahandru formed this firm with a 65% partnership given to the representatives of the South Group who represented K Kavitha and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy/Raghav Magunta respectively in this partnership firm.
Basically, Indo Spirits was one of the vehicles created in order to facilitate the recoupment of the kickbacks paid in advance by the South Group.
Screenshot from the ED remand notice presented before the court
Notably, the fact that Vijay Nair has been working on behalf of Manish Sisodia has been also disclosed in his statement dated March 6, 2023, by Arun Pillai who was the representative of K. Kavitha in Indospirits. Butchi babu (representative of South Group), meanwhile, had disclosed in his statement dated February 28, 2023, that the total amount paid through Hawala channels in this deal was around Rs. 100 crores.
Nexus between Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and K Kavitha
Revealing the nexus between Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and K Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Butchi babu said that K Kavitha met Vijar Nair on March 19-20th, 2021. Out of the deal that was between K Kavitha and top AAP leaders, she was given stakes in partnership with Sameer and distribution of Pernod Ricard, read the document.
Notably, on March 10, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) interrogated MLC K. Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, in Delhi. According to the Enforcement Directorate, she is a member of the ‘South Cartel,’ which allegedly received payments in the case.
The ED further shared screenshots of chats that happened between Butchi babu (representative of South Group) and Vijay Nair on Signal App, to reveal how the kickback money was transferred through Hawala.
AAP demanded advance kickbacks amounting to 100 crores from South Cartel to fund Goa and Punjab elections: ED
Dinesh Arora, a close aide of Manish Sisodia and Vijay Nair’s key planner, who was tasked with coordinating kickbacks and bringing them to Delhi, told the Enforcement Directorate that the advance kickback of Rs 100 crores was given to the Aam Aadmi Party as they needed to fund the elections in Punjab and Goa and the fund requirement was urgent.
Notably, Dinesh Arora had become a government approver last year.
Arora told ED that Vijay Nair told him the excise policy was designed with a 12% profit margin for Ll wholesalers in mind. Of this 12% profit, 6% was set aside as a kickback to the AAP. All Lls were meant to offer a 6% kickback in principle, but the major focus was only on the top three wholesalers.
He further said this kickback money would normally have gone to the AAP after the business’s operations, but the party’s demand was for supporting the elections in Punjab and Goa, and the finance requirement was urgent.
As a result, Vijay Nair reached an agreement with Arun Pillai, Abhishek Boinpally, and Buchi Babu (who were the representatives of South Group led by K Kavitha, MSR and Sarath Reddy). The south group paid Rs. 100 Cr to Vijay Nair (for AAP) and they were supposed to recoup this money from the 3 major wholesalers. Further, Indo Spirits itself was an entity controlled by the South Group, therefore the recoverable money was directly in control of them.
Further, Dinesh Arora and Arun Pillai, a part of the ‘south group’ that allegedly sent kickbacks worth Rs 100 crore to the Aam Admi Party (AAP) leaders, in their statements dated March 3, 2022, and November 11, 2022, respectively revealed that there was a meeting that took place in April 2022 at Oberoi Maidens, New Delhi. In this meeting, Dinesh Arora, Arun Pillai, Vijay Nair and K Kavitha were present. The agenda of the meeting was the recovery of the kickbacks that were paid in advance by the South Group to Vijay Nair. The meeting was further confirmed by the Hotel records from Oberoi Maidens.
ED used a chart to explain how the kickback was used for campaigning in Goa.
Destruction of digital evidence in order to obstruct the inquiry and erase evidence
The ED also alleged Sisodia used/changed/destroyed 14 phones/IMEIs and only 2 phones could be recovered during raids conducted by the CBI in this case.
The AAP politician, it said, not only used SIM subscribed in the name of his PS Devender Sharma but also used handsets purchased under various names.
“The sole purpose of using a SIM card and handset registered in the name of another person was to deny that the data connected with the SIM and stored in the phone belongs to him (Sisodia). This is a typical case of storing and using equipment owned in benami names,” the ED said.
The ED concluded that while Rs 100 crore was received as kickbacks from the liquor cartel’s ‘South Group,’ an accused company in the case, Indospirits, made a profit of Rs 192.8 crore from the proceeds of crime generated by the irregularities in the excise policy 2021-22.
“Manish Sisodia has conspired with other persons and actively involved in formation of faulty policy against kickbacks. By such acts, proceeds of crime (POC) to the tune of at least Rs. 292.8 cr has been generated and Sh. Manish Sisodia has played role in generation, transfer, concealment of the proceeds of crime and projected the same as untainted.”
“His statements under Section 50 of PMLA 2002 has been recorded on 07.03.2023 and 09.03.2023. He is not revealing the truth by giving evasive replies and hence he is not co-operating with the investigation for taking it to logical end. Hence, Custodial Interrogation of Manish Sisodia is need of the hour to unearth this multi crore scam, since the same is more elicit in nature.”
“Hence, on the basis of the investigation conducted so far and on the basis of material available it is clearly indicated that Sh Manish Sisodia is actually involved in the process and connected with the proceeds of crime and therefore, Manish Sisodia is guilty of the offence of money laundering. Further, he has withheld information which is in his exclusive knowledge and extremely relevant to the investigation. Accordingly, Sh. Manish Sisodia, is arrested under the provisions of Section 19 of the PMLA, 2002 at 06:20 PM on 09.03.2023 in Jail no 01, Tihar Prisons, New Delhi in the interest of investigation and after following due process of law,” the ED remand note read.
The ED claimed in its application for a 10-day remand of Sisodia that the vast digital/physical records recovered during 189 search operations conducted by this Directorate under Section 17 of the PMLA, 2002, must be confronted with Manish Sisodia. Also, he must be questioned about additional associates/entities participating in the Cartelization and Kickbacks, among other things.
Furthermore, he must be questioned in order to determine the entire extent of the offence and to unearth the complete Proceeds of Crime involved. As a result, the federal agency stated that it is critical in the interest of the inquiry that ED is granted 10 days of custody of the AAP leader.
After hearing the matter, a Delhi court, on March 10 remanded former deputy chief minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia to Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till 17th March 2023.
