7\][PUYTRNEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday alleged that some wholesalers in the national capital were arm-twisted by senior Punjab excise officials after the former refused to pay bribes in connection to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 21-22.
The disclosure was made by the agency before the Rouse Avenue Court while seeking extension in Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s custody, which was later granted till April 1.
“The factories of these wholesalers were either shut down or not allowed to dispatch their goods in Punjab by Punjab excise officials when the demands of bribes were not fulfilled in Delhi,” it read.
The probe agency in its remand application said that during Kejriwal’s six-day custody, summons were issued to senior excise officials in Punjab in connection with the case. It has been alleged that all three officials were involved in devising Punjab’s excise policy in 2022. However, they could not appear before the ED apparently due to hooch tragedy in Sangrur, Punjab.
The ED had summoned three Punjab officials, IAS officers, KAP Sinha and Varun Roojam, and additional excise commissioner Naresh Dubey. Previously, the trio had been summoned by the ED in relation to the same case in 2022.
The ED claimed that Roojam and Dubey were present at the residence of Manish Sisodia, who is also under arrest in connection with the Delhi excise case, when the Punjab policy was formulated.
“The trio faces scrutiny following the statement of Deepa Chadha, who alleged that she was pressurised by Punjab authorities to surrender her L1 licence in Delhi by disrupting the operations of her Punjab-based distillery,” sources said.
Further, in its remand application, the ED stated that a statement from an AAP candidate in the 2022 Goa Assembly elections was obtained, revealing that his election expenditure was taken care of by the AAP office in Delhi.
“He (the candidate) has revealed that he was not having any money and his election expenditure (all expenses for rallies/events/public hoardings) was taken care of by the AAP Delhi office only, through their associates,” the official document read. Kejriwal’s statement was recorded on five consecutive days and his responses were “evasive”, the ED charged.
The ED also said that some details such as movable/immovable property details, other financial details etc. were sought and Kejriwal said that he would tell his counsel/family members and the information would be shared by them. “However, no details were furnished by him and his counsel/family members,” it said.