Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday alleged that the CBI and ED were torturing people to take his and Manish Sisodia's name in the Delhi liquor policy scam case. "CBI, ED filed false affidavits in excise policy case in court; they're torturing people to testify against Manish Sisodia and me," he said in a press conference today. He listed names of some individuals alleging that they were tortured and beaten
During the press conference, Kejriwal said that the central agencies presented false evidence in court and tried to mislead the court.
"ED and CBI alleged that Sisodia broke 14 of his mobile phones to destroy evidence, but as per ED's seizure memo, 4 of them are with them while one is with CBI. Rest of the phones are also operational and are being used by different individuals," Kejriwal claimed, adding that the agencies took Rs 100 crore bribe and raided 400 locations but nothing was found.
The Aam Aadmi Party national convenor said that he knew he would be summoned by CBI "the day I spoke against coruption in Delhi Assembly." "In 75 years, no party has been targeted like AAP. We have given hope to people about good education," he added.
Speaking on the now-withdrawn liquor policy, Kejriwal said it was "excellent" and would have ended corruption.
An hour ahead of the press conference, the Bharatiya Janata Party trained guns against the Delhi CM asking what was his relation with liquor contractors and why he was in touch with the accused in the case.
BJP national spokesperson in a press conference said, "The moment Arvind Kejriwal was summoned by the CBI, he started trembling with fear. Arvind Kejriwal is the kingpin of the liquor scam, the investigation so far shows this."
The Delhi Chief Minister has been summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the now-scrapped liquor policy case on April 16. He has been summoned by the federal probe agency at its headquarters on Sunday at 11 am.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has already been arrested in the case by the CBI. He was also arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam.
The Delhi Lieutenant Governor had asked the CBI to probe alleged irregularities after the excise policy 2021-22 was withdrawn in August last year.
The CBI has alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licenses to liquor traders favored certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, an accusation strongly refuted by the AAP. The policy was later scrapped.