Delhi Liquor Policy Scam: ED Raids 35 Locations In Delhi, Punjab & Hyderabad

Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at 35 locations on Friday in the Delhi Excise money laundering case throughout Delhi-NCR, Punjab, and some locations in Hyderabad.

Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, tweeted on Friday in response to the new raids: “More than 500 raids, since 3 months, more than 300 CBI/ED officers are working 24 hours to find evidence against Manish Sisodia. Can’t find anything because nothing was done. The time of so many officers is being wasted for their dirty politics. How will such a country progress?”

500 से ज़्यादा रेड, 3 महीनों से CBI/ED के 300 से ज़्यादा अधिकारी 24 घंटे लगे हुए हैं- एक मनीष सिसोदिया के ख़िलाफ़ सबूत ढूँढने के लिए। कुछ नहीं मिल रहा। क्योंकि कुछ किया ही नहीं

अपनी गंदी राजनीति के लिए इतने अधिकारियों का समय बर्बाद किया जा रहा है। ऐसे देश कैसे तरक़्क़ी करेगा? https://t.co/VN3AMc6TUd

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 7, 2022

Notably, The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has carried out more than 103 searches in this case so far, and Sameer Mahandru, a liquor industry executive and the managing director of liquor producer Indospirit, was arrested last month in connection with the case.

The L-G requested that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) look into the suspected anomalies in the implementation of Delhi’s Excise Policy 2021–2022, which is when the liquor scheme came under scrutiny. In the case, he had also suspended 11 excise officials.

The Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, and a few other Delhi government bureaucrats were listed as defendants in an FIR that gave rise to the money laundering case involving the liquor policy. The CBI is looking into whether the policy helped the liquor cartels.

Meanwhile, The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also accused the policy that permitted businesses to give significant discounts to draw customers of being highly corrupt. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), on the other hand, said that their policy was intended to fight corruption and accused the BJP of abusing government institutions for personal gain.