The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's personal assistant (PA) for questioning in connection with its ongoing probe into the excise scam.
Arvind Kejriwal's PA Bibhav Kumar deposed before the federal probe agency and the investigators recorded his statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.
His questioning is understood to be related to the ED's charges made before the court that at least 36 accused, including Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Bibhav Kumar, "destroyed or used" 170 phones to conceal evidence of "kickbacks" worth thousands of crores of rupees in the alleged scam.
The ED, till now, has filed two charge sheets or prosecution complaints in this case and has arrested a total of nine people.
The ED has alleged in a charge sheet submitted to the court that a part of the alleged Rs 100 crore "kickbacks" generated in the scrapped Delhi excise policy were "used" in the 2022 Goa assembly election campaign of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.
The excise policy 2021-22 was scrapped in August last year and the Delhi LG later asked the CBI to probe the alleged irregularities.
The ED's money laundering stems from the CBI FIR.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was summoned again on Wednesday to join the probe in the Delhi excise policy case on February 26.
Sisodia was earlier asked to appear before the CBI on February 19, but he expressed his inability to join the probe and sought one week's time. He told the CBI that he was busy giving the final touch to Delhi's budget which would be sent to the Centre for approval.
The CBI allowed his request and issued him a second notice.
Sisodia has alleged that it is BJP who is behind the scene. He alleged that he was busy in giving the final touch to Delhi budget when he was called to join the investigation.
"I am a finance minister too. I have to prepare Delhi Budget. It will be sent to Centre for the approval. BJP is using CBI to stop us in doing development. I have sought time," Sisodia had said while requesting for more time.
Earlier on Wednesday, the CBI interrogated Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain at Tihar Jail.
The CBI interrogated Jain about AAP communication in-charge Vijay Nair and other related things.
On February 8, the CBI arrested Butchibabu Gorantla, ex-CA of BRS leader K Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
The CBI has already filed a charge sheet in the matter. The source said that they are in process of filing a supplementary charge sheet in the matter and hence they wanted to collect more evidence to make the case watertight.
(With inputs from agencies)