ED arrests AAP MP Sanjay Singh in Delhi excise policy case

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday arrested AAP MP Sanjay Singh in connection with the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case, officials said.

ED raided the premises of Singh and was questioning him since morning.

The ED had earlier questioned members of the staff and those linked to the 51-year-old Rajya Sabha MP.

The ED had mentioned Singh's name in its charge sheet. It stated that Dinesh Arora, a middleman, had said he had met Singh during a party in his restaurant Unplugged Courtyard.

In 2020, it said, Singh requested him to ask restaurant owners to generate funds for the Aam Aadmi Party for the Delhi assembly elections. He said he gave a cheque of Rs 82 lakh for the funds.

According to the charge sheet, Dinesh Arora said in his statement that another accused Amit Arora wanted help in shifting his liquor shop from Okhla to Pitampura. He managed this through Singh who told Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and the matter was resolved by the Excise Department.

Dinesh Arora also said he met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal once at his residence with Singh while he had spoken to Sisodia five-six times, the charge sheet stated.

Responding to the searches at its leader's residence, AAP alleged that the ED has "targeted" Singh as he raised issues related to the Adani group in Parliament.

"Sanjay Singh kept on raising questions on the issue of Adani and this is why the raids are being conducted at his residence. The Central agencies found nothing earlier and won't find anything today either. First, they conducted raids at the residence of some journalists yesterday and today, raids conducted at Sanjay Singh's residence," AAP spokesperson Reena Gupta said.

Singh's father Dinesh Singh said they are cooperating with the ED.

It is alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP.

The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA.