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Proceeding with the money laundering probe in Delhi’s now scrapped Excise Policy 2021-22 case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communication in-charge Vijay Nair and Hyderabad-based businessman Abhishek Banipoli, sources said on Monday.
An ED source said on condition of anonymity The New Indian“ED Arrests Nair, Bonipally in Excise Policy Case.”
Earlier both were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The ED arrested Nair before the bail hearing in the court here.
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The arrest comes just days after financial investigation firm Arvind Farmer P Sharath C Reddy and Pernod Ricard’s Vinay Babu were arrested on Thursday last week.
The ED had earlier arrested Indospirits MD Sameer Mahandru in the case.
In the probe into the money laundering probe into the now-cancelled Delhi Excise Police 2021-22 case, the ED found that 34 suspects, including the accused, had altered 140 mobile phones worth Rs 1.2 crore to destroy digital evidence.
The ED disclosed this information in the remand papers of the two accused, Reddy and Babu, who were arrested on Thursday. The court sent both the accused to seven-day ED custody.
“A large number of mobile phones have been altered by persons involved or suspected in the case with the intention of destroying digital evidence during the relevant period,” the ED said.
The ED said that all “34 key persons involved or suspected to be involved in the excise scam had exchanged a total of 140 phones worth Rs 1.2 crore with the intention of destroying digital evidence during the relevant period”.
“The timing of phone changes indicates that most of the changes were made only after the scam came to light,” the ED alleged.
The CBI registered a case on August 17 to probe alleged irregularities in the new excise policy.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is also the Excise Minister, has been named as accused number one in the case. The CBI raided Sisodia’s premises on August 19, along with 30 other locations across the country in the case.
The CBI filed the FIR based on a complaint received from Delhi Lt. Governor Binai Kumar Saxena, who had exposed irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy.
Apart from Sisodia, the CBI named 14 others, including three government employees – then Excise Commissioner Arva Gopi Krishna; Then Deputy Excise Commissioner Anand Tiwari and Assistant Commissioner (Excise) Pankaj Bhatnagar.
Some individuals include Nair, former CEO of Mumbai-based Only Much Louder; Mahendru, MD of Indospirits; Manoj Rai, a former employee of Lucknow-based Pernod Ricard; Amit Arora, Director, Gurgaon-based Buddy Retail Private Limited; Dinesh Arora, Delhi-based Mahadev Liquors; Sunny Marwah, an authorized signatory of Mahadev Liquors; Arun Ramachandra Pillai of Bangalore in Karnataka and Arjun Pandey of Gurgaon are also named in the CBI FIR.
The ED also alleged that during the course of investigation, various persons involved in the Delhi Excise scam had revealed that an advance bribe of Rs 100 crore was paid by the Delhi government to give undue favors to selected business groups.
The ED also said that it was also found that kickbacks and bribes were demanded and taken by Delhi excise officials for opening retail stores in Delhi.
The ED has till date searched more than 169 places related to the case.
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