The Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday claimed that Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was arrested after he gave evasive responses and did not cooperate despite being confronted with evidence while being questioned about alleged irregularities in the state’s excise policy, ANI reported.
Sisodia was questioned by the CBI for over seven hours at the central agency’s headquarters on Sunday, before being taken into custody. He will undergo a medical checkup and will be presented before a CBI court on Monday, according to NDTV.
Sisodia and 14 other persons were booked by the CBI in August on charges of irregularities in the now-scrapped liquor policy, which was part of the new excise regulations. Sisodia, however, has not been named in the central agency’s chargesheet.
The deputy chief minister, who holds 18 departments in the Delhi government, is the second Cabinet minister to be arrested by a central agency. Former Health Minister Satyendar Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in May in a money laundering case.
On Sunday, prior to his appearance at the CBI headquarters, Sisodia had expressed apprehensions that he may be arrested.
In a letter to residents of Delhi, he wrote: “I can go to jail several times and I am not afraid. When I left my job as a journalist, my wife supported me. Even today, my family is standing by my side. My workers will take care of my family if I get arrested.”
After the arrest, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that Sisodia was innocent and CBI’s action against him was part of the “dirty politics” of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government.
“People are watching everything,” Kejriwal wrote in a tweet. “People now understand everything and will give reply to this. It will boost our spirit and our struggle will only get stronger.”
Meanwhile, the BJP said that Aam Aadmi Party leaders have failed to explain their questionable actions in the excise policy case.
“It is unfortunate that today, an education minister has been arrested in relation to a liquor policy,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said. “This is the same Aam Aadmi Party which earlier used to bring out a list every day of what it claimed were the most corrupt people in the country.”
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