NEW DELHI: The ED has arrested Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communication in-charge Vijay Nair and businessman Abhishek Boinpally in connection with its ongoing probe into the Delhi Excise policy that was scrapped following corruption allegations, official sources said Monday.
The ED has been granted 5-day custodial remand to quiz the duo.
The two are currently in judicial custody and lodged in jail here after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested them in the same case.
They would be confronted with the other accused – P Sarath C Reddy and Binoy Babu – arrested by the agency last week. All accused will be questioned in the presence of each other, the sources said.
Nair, the former CEO of Only Much Louder (OML), an entertainment and event management company, was arrested by the CBI in September, while Boinpally, a Hyderabad-based businessman, was apprehended last month.
The duo have been in judicial custody since last month after their interrogation by the CBI.
The Hyderabad-based Boinpally is not named as an accused in the CBI FIR but his close associate and partner Arun Ramchandra Pillai is.
The two founded Robin Distribution LLP in July this year, according to the Registrar of Companies (RoC) database.
According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Nair and Boinpally were actively involved in irregularities in framing and implementation of excise policy. They influenced the distribution of liquor licenses to various traders and distributors and were involved in large-scale cartelization, it said.
The ED earlier arrested Sameer Mahandru, promoter of liquor company Indospirit, general manager of liquor company Pernod Ricard, Benoy Babu, and P Sarath Chandra Reddy, whole-time director and promoter of Aurobindo Pharma.
While arguing in court, ED's counsel Naveen Matta had said that Benoy Babu was a part of the cartelisation. He had given 29 out of 31 licences to retail, the ED said.
The ED counsel also said that the financial probe agency also got the draft final policy of the Excise Policy from Babu's email, adding that the liquor licence had been given only to a select group of people deliberately and some of the panel submissions had been illegally leaked.
The ED also alleged that Reddy is one of the kingpins and major beneficiaries in the entire Delhi Excise policy scam.
The ED argued that Reddy was effectively controlling five retail zones through his group company, Trident Chemphar Pvt Ltd and proxy entities, namely Organomixx Ecosystems and Sri Avantika Contractors in violation of the Excise Policy, which barred any person from controlling more than two retail zones.
It was also alleged that Reddy was a key partner in the biggest cartel, named the "South Group" by Dinesh Arora, an accused turned approver, in his statement of manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. The "South Group" refers to big liquor distributors in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh dominating the market, the CBI said.
Reddy was involved in several payoffs including to Nair, the ED alleged.
“Partners of this cartel, such as Sameer Mahendru, own liquor manufacturing units along with Pernod Ricard (PRI), which is one of the biggest manufacturers in the country. PRI had made IndoSpirits its wholesale distributor, wherein Indo Spirits was owned by Sameer Mahendru, Arun Pillai and Prem Rahul Manduri," the ED alleged while seeking custodial remand of Reddy along with Babu.
The ED also alleged that the South Group, led by Reddy, controlled nine retail zones through a web of proxies and benami entities. "This is in clear contravention of the objectives of the Delhi Excise Policy, 2021-22. Reddy had direct control of 5 retail zones (Trident Chemphar Pvt Ltd and proxy entities namely, Organomixx Ecosystems and Sri Avantika Contractors) and along with other members of the cartel, he also collectively controlled 4 zones," ED said.
"This cartel effectively controlled about 30 per cent of the Delhi liquor market through a series of illegal activities involving giving kickbacks, using benami and proxy entities and conspiring with various stakeholders in the liquordustry," the ED alleged.
The ED also informed the court during remand proceedings of Babu, Sarath and Reddy that the policy was "leaked" to certain liquor manufacturers about 45 days before its public release and a probe found that three dozen VIPs, including Deputy Chief Minister Sisodia, allegedly changed as many as 140 mobile phones with the intention to destroy digital evidence.
The excise scheme came under the scanner after the Delhi LG recommended a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
The LG had also suspended 11 excise officials.
The money laundering case stems from a CBI FIR that had named Manish Sisodia as an accused among others.
The ED has questioned AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak, minister Satyendar Jain, currently in jail in another money laundering case, and a PA of Sisodia apart from a number of other players and private executives in this case till now.
The CBI inquiry was recommended on the findings of the Delhi chief secretary's report filed in July showing prima facie violations of the GNCTD Act 1991, Transaction of Business Rules (ToBR)-1993, Delhi Excise Act-2009, and Delhi Excise Rules-2010, officials had said.
The ED has undertaken as many as 169 search operations in this case so far. The CBI had raided the premises of Sisodia and some Delhi government bureaucrats after filing the case.