Vijay Nair Has No Links With Excise Case, Arrested For Not Implicating Sisodia: AAP

"We strongly condemn these unconstitutional and illegal methods being adopted by the BJP. All allegations against Vijay Nair and AAP leaders are false and completely baseless,” AAP said in a statement

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday condemned the arrest of its communication in-charge Vijay Nair by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Delhi excise policy case and alleged the federal probe agency of taking him into custody after he refused to buckle up under the agency’s pressure to implicate Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, reported news agency PTI. 

Sisodia has been named in a case over irregularities in implication of excise policy in the national capital for which the CBI has registered a case against him. 

The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, in a statement, alleged the CBI arresting Nair was a part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s “ongoing attempt” to crush the AAP and obstruct its campaign in Gujarat where assembly polls are slated to take place  this year. 

"Vijay Nair is communication in-charge of AAP. He was responsible for developing and implementing communication strategies in Punjab earlier and Gujarat now. He has nothing to do with the excise policy. Strangely, he has been arrested by the CBI just now in the excise case," the party said.

"We strongly condemn these unconstitutional and illegal methods being adopted by the BJP. All allegations against Vijay Nair and AAP leaders are false and completely baseless,” it added.

As per AAP, CBI raided Nair’s residence twice in the last month but found nothing incriminating. 

“Nair was called for questioning in the last few days and was pressured to take the name of Manish Sisodia. When he refused to do that, he was threatened that he would be arrested." The entire country is watching how the BJP is “completely rattled by the AAP's growing popularity across India,” it said.

The BJP is "unable to digest the rapidly growing" support for the AAP in Gujarat, it charged.

The CBI arrested Nair on Tuesday.

The news agency citing its sources said Nair was arrested for his alleged role in "cartelisation" and "conspiracy" related to alleged irregularities in the allocation of liquor licence in the national capital.

The FIR has alleged that Arjun Pandey, an associate of Sisodia, had once collected about Rs 2-4 crore in cash from liquor businessman Sameer Mahendru on behalf of Nair, former CEO of Only Much Louder, an entertainment and event management company.