In a big development, the Enforcement Directorate has arrested Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh following 10-hour-long raids at his residence in Delhi. The probe agency raided the AAP MP’s house and questioned him in relation to the ongoing investigation into a money laundering case linked to the Delhi liquor policy case.
#BREAKING | CONFIRMED: AAP MP Sanjay Singh arrested in connection with liquor scam.#AAP #SanjaySingh #AAPLeader #AAPMP #LiquorScam #SanjaySinghArrested
— Republic (@republic) October 4, 2023
WATCH #LIVE here-https://t.co/5C8MAHsMNQ pic.twitter.com/XDnqocjWbw
Notably, ED raided Sanjay Singh’s house on the day the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear the bail plea of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia. A report by Times Now suggested that the ED was conducting raids on multiple locations apart from Sanjay Singh’s residence.
The ED team reached the house of the AAP MP at around 7 AM. Hours after the raids, AAP workers assembled outside Sanjay Singh’s residence sloganeering against the ED and the Centre.
VIDEO | AAP supporters protest outside party leader Sanjay Singh's residence in Delhi against ED raids. pic.twitter.com/MJitkyqESm
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 4, 2023
Notably, Sanjay Singh’s name had appeared multiple times in the charge sheet filed by the ED. According to the charge sheet, Dinesh Arora, who has turned approver, had met Arvind Kejriwal in the presence of Singh. In a statement, Arora told ED he met Singh at an event and later came in touch with Sisodia.
ED said, “He (Dinesh Arora) initially met Sanjay Singh through whom he came in contact with Manish Sisodia during a party at his own restaurant, namely Unplugged Courtyard. On request of Sanjay Singh, he spoke with many of the restaurant owners and arranged cheques amounting to Rs 32 lakh (handed over to Sisodia) for collection of party funds for upcoming elections in Delhi.”
ED further noted that Singh helped Arora resolve one of the long-pending issues with the liquor department.
A day before raids on Sanjay Singh, it was reported that a Delhi court allowed the son of YSR Congress Party Lok Sabha MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy’s son and a Delhi-based businessman, Dinesh Arora, to become approvers in the ED case linked to an excise policy scam.
Speaking to the media, national spokesperson of AAP Reena Gupta targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the raids and claimed the raids were conducted as Singh raised questions over links between PM Modi and business tycoon Gautam Adani.
The Congress also came out in support of Sanjay Singh calling the ED the “Election Department” of the BJP. The BJP meanwhile has sought Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation.
VIDEO | “ED has become the ‘Election Department’ of BJP. Sanjay Singh is an MP who has questioned the Modi-government repeatedly. Such actions against him can’t be acceptable,” says Congress leader @rssurjewala on ED action against AAP leader Sanjay Singh. pic.twitter.com/jO7w5B9z0O
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 4, 2023
Notably, Sanjay Singh’s close associate Manish Sisodia, who is also behind bars in the liquor scam case, had himself made some startling admissions that affirm his role in the Delhi excise policy scam case.
Even as the AAP MP emphatically kept rejected his party’s role in the Delhi Liquor scam, Sisoda reportedly confessed to destroying two mobile phones which were sought by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the case.
