Excise probe: After CM’s arrest, AAP’s Goa chief receives ED summons
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Amit Palekar, the Aam Aadmi Party’s Goa unit chief, and some other party leaders from the state for questioning in a money-laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy on March 28, official sources said on Wednesday.
The AAP leaders have been asked to be present at the ED’s office in Goa’s Panjim on Thursday, the sources added.
Palekar, who was the AAP’s chief ministerial face during the February 2022 Goa Assembly polls, had recently said there was no evidence to prove that any illicit money was sent to the state, asserting that he and his party colleagues were ready to face any inquiry.
The ED arrested AAP national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the case on March 21.
The central agency has claimed in its chargesheet that the AAP used “proceeds of crime” to the tune of about Rs 45 crore in its Goa poll campaign, from the Rs 100 crore “bribe” that was pumped in by the “South Group” that allegedly involved Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha.
Kejriwal will be produced before a Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court by the central probe agency at the end of his remand period on Thursday.