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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested a close aide of Deputy Chief Minister and Delhi Excise Minister Manish Sisodia in the Delhi liquor scam case.
Amit Arora, a Gurgaon-based businessman and director of Buddy Retail Pvt Ltd, has been arrested under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This is the sixth arrest by the investigating agency in this case.
According to the chargesheet filed by the CBI, Amit Arora, along with two other accused Dinesh Arora and Arjun Pandey were closely associated with Sisodia. They were actively involved in handling and siphoning off undue financial benefits collected from liquor licensees for accused government servants.
The money laundering ED case arose out of a CBI FIR.
The EDO filed the first chargesheet in the case last week, naming arrested businessman Sameer Mahandru, his company Indospirit and several other entities.
Both companies are expected to file more such complaints in court as the investigation progresses.
The CBI also got Dinesh Arora to sanction the case.
Dinesh Arora recorded his statement under Section 164 of the CrPC before a magistrate and was pardoned by a special court to assist in the investigation.
The CBI, after registering a case against 15 people in August, conducted searches at various places.
The Delhi government has faced allegations of giving licenses to some dealers favored by liquor traders in lieu of financial benefits.
It was also alleged that irregularities were committed including changes in excise policy, granting of undue benefits to licensees, waiver/reduction of license fee, extension of L-1 license without approval etc.
A few weeks ago, a Sting video Talking about the complexities of the liquor scam, Amit Arora came up. In the video, Amit explains how a New Delhi excise policy was formulated by liquor traders and private traders, including AAP’s communications in-charge Vijay Nair.
In the video, he pointed to a skewed liquor policy aimed at eliminating competition in Delhi’s liquor market and turning Delhi into a liquor export hub at the expense of the government exchequer.
In its FIR, the CBI also alleged that Sisodia and other accused public servants made recommendations and decisions regarding Delhi’s Excise Policy 2021-22 without the approval of the competent authority with the intention of giving undue benefits to the licensees after the tender.
(with inputs from PTI)
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