ED And CBI Coercing Witnesses At Gunpoint In Excise Policy Case, Have Proof Against Them: AAP

The AAP accused ED & CBI officials of threatening witnesses in the Delhi excise policy case and claimed it has proof of "this conspiracy" against the party and its national convenor Arvind Kejriwal.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials of threatening witnesses in the Delhi excise policy case on Tuesday (May 16), claiming it has proof of "this conspiracy" against the party and its national convenor Arvind Kejriwal. Sanjay Singh, an AAP Rajya Sabha MP, claimed at a press conference that the ED and the CBI were taking statements in the case "at gunpoint". 

"There are two or three officials in the ED and CBI who are working at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's request. I want to tell them to be honest in their work," the Rajya Sabha MP said.

Singh claimed that there is a conspiracy to demolish the Aam Aadmi Party and Kejriwal and that people were intimidated and tortured into making statements against him.

"We have many proofs of how this conspiracy is being hatched and will reveal at the right time," he added. 

Earlier on Monday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Arvind Kumar Singh, the production controller and commercial head of India Ahead News channel, in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.

The agency claims that Singh was involved in the routing of 17 crore through the "hawala" channel. He was allegedly linked to the 'South Group,' which benefited from changes in excise policy.

In the same case that was registered on August 17, 2022, the agency filed a supplementary chargesheet against former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, businessman Amandeep Singh Dhall, chartered accountant Butchibabu Gorantla, and one Arjun Pandey last month.

The then-Aam Aadmi Party communication and media in-charge Vijay Nair was accused of accepting 100 crore in advance as "kickbacks" from the "South Group," which included YSRCP MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, his son Raghav Magunta, Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLC K. Kavitha, and Aurobindo Pharma director P Sarath Chandra Reddy.

The Enforcement Directorate, which is investigating money laundering based on the CBI case, claims that some of the funds were diverted through "hawala" channels for the AAP's election campaign in the 2022 Goa Assembly election. Volunteers who were part of the survey teams were paid in cash to the tune of Rs. 70 lakh.

The now-cancelled excise policy had provided a whopping 12% profit margin for wholesalers and a nearly 185% profit margin for retailers.