- Assets worth over ₹ 52 crore of Manish Sisodia and other accused in the Delhi liquor policy has been attached by the Enforcement Directorate.
- It is the second provisional attachment, the first order issued was for attachment of immovable/movable properties worth Rs 76.54 crore of several accused.
- Total attachment in the case is now Rs 128.78 crore and the proceeds of crime involved in this case is at least Rs 1,934 crore.
- In this case, ED had arrested 12 persons so far and has filed five prosecution complaints.
- AAP leader Atishi said the center has planted stories in the media to tarnish the image of Mr. Sisodia.
- On Thursday, the ED arrested businessman Dinesh Arora, who had turned approver in the CBI’s excise case.
Assets worth over ₹ 52 crores of jailed Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia and other accused in the Delhi liquor policy have 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 ₹ 11 lakhs 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 center 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 ordered the CBI probe last year. Thereafter, the Delhi government reverted to the old liquor policy and blamed the Lieutenant Governor for the loss of revenue worth crores of rupees that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government claimed would have come if the new policy had continued.
“It is the second provisional attachment order issued in this case. The first provisional attachment order issued was for the attachment of immovable/movable properties worth Rs 76.54 crore of (AAP communications in-charge) Vijay Nair, (Indospirit MD) Sameer Mahendru; businessman Amit Arora; businessman Arun Pillai and others. The total attachment in the case is now Rs 128.78 crore and the proceeds of crime involved in this case is at least Rs 1,934 crore. In this case, ED had arrested 12 persons so far and has filed five prosecution complaints. Further investigation is in process,” the spokesperson said.
On Thursday, the ED arrested businessman Dinesh Arora, who had turned approver in the CBI’s excise case. In one of its chargesheets, the ED has alleged that Dinesh Arora acted as a “conduit for kickbacks” between the ‘South group’ and the Aam Aadmi Party. The ED chargesheet relies on statements made by Dinesh Arora, Mahendru, and Pillai to allege that Arora took over from Nair when the latter was busy with the Goa and Punjab Assembly elections.
(With inputs from agencies)
