Aam Aadmi Party boss Arvind Kejriwal has come out in support of colleague Sanjay Singh after his home was searched this morning in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case. The Delhi Chief Minister claimed “more than 1,000 raids” had failed to find “a single paise” of illegally acquired money.
Mr Kejriwal also hit out at the ruling BJP (he did not name them) and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party of “desperate attempts” to derail rivals ahead of next year’s general election.
“For the last year we have been seeing… there is noise about alleged liquor scam. More than 1000 raids have been conducted and not a single paise was recovered,” Mr Kejriwal said.
“They just keep alleging ‘scam’. I did a lot of investigation and found nothing.”
READ | NDTV Explains Why AAP’s Sanjay Singh Was Raided In Liquor Policy Case
“… (and) nothing is going to be found from Sanjay Singh’s place too. Elections are coming and they feel (they) are losing… so it appears the last desperate attempt of the losing side,” he declared.
The Chief Minister – who, like other opposition leaders, has accused the BJP of using agencies to harass rivals and critics – also seemed to refer to the row over raids on NewsClick Tuesday morning.
The news website has been accused of receiving Rs 38 crore from China-linked entities to push propaganda, and its founder, Prabir Purkayastha, was arrested late last night.
READ | NewsClick Founder Prabir Purkayastha Arrested In Anti-Terror Case
“Yesterday it happened to journalists. Today it happened to Sanjay Singh. Now wait till the elections… maybe it will happen to you too,” he told reporters.
The Enforcement Directorate raided Sanjay Singh’s Delhi home Wednesday morning over money-laundering charges linked to the AAP government’s (now-scrapped) liquor excise policy case of 2021.
READ | Searches At AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh’s House In Delhi Liquor Policy Case
He is the latest AAP leader to come under central agencies’ scanner in this case, after ex-Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI and the ED.
Authorities believe Mr Singh was responsible for introducing Mr Sisodia – whom they claim as the mastermind of the alleged scam – to a businessman given bail after becoming a police informant.
READ | “Kingpin Of Conspiracy”: CBI Opposes Bail Plea Of Manish Sisodia In Liquor Case
In April Mr Kejriwal was questioned for nearly nine hours in connection with this case.
