NEW DELHI: Enforcement Directorate (ED) sleuths on Saturday visited multiple locations, including the premises of Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s personal assistant Devendra Sharma, in connection with the money laundering angle in the Delhi excise policy case. ED officials visited at least five locations in the Delhi NCR as part of the ongoing investigation, sources added.
Sisodia took to twitter to claim: “They registered a false FIR, got my house raided, searched bank lockers, checked in my village but found nothing against me. Today, they did not find anything at my PA’s house, so now they have arrested him and taken him away.” In another tweet, he alleged the ED action is because of the upcoming state elections.
However, ED sources told this paper that no arrests were made though occupants of the premises searched were questioned.The ED has so far conducted more than 130 raids in across India including Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It arrested Sameer Mahandru, managing director of liquor manufacturing company Indospirit, in September.
The money laundering case being investigated by ED is the fallout of a CBI FIR on the Delhi excise policy case in which Sisodia has been named as accused number one. The CBI is probing the irregularities in the Delhi excise policy, which Sisodia had approved. The irregularities allegedly caused huge losses to the state exchequer while benefiting private parties including liquor traders and middlemen. The CBI is also conducting a parallel investigation into the matter under Prevention of Corruption Act. In the latter case, Sisodia was questioned last month for over nine hours.
‘Need new engine not double engine govt’
Sisodia tried to woo Himachal voters saying AAP can make a “new-engine” govt in the state. He said the BJP’s “double-engine government” took Himachal Pradesh in the wrong direction