Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party and the chief minister of Delhi, has been detained by the Indian Enforcement Directorate in connection with an alleged liquor policy scam.
The investigation team was looking at the case’s potential for money laundering.
In the history of Independent India, Kejriwal is the first chief minister to be detained while in office, but his party has declared that he will stay in the position.
Speaking from outside the chief minister’s residence on Thursday, Delhi minister Atishi said: “We are getting reports that the Enforcement Directorate has arrested Kejriwal. His arrest is a conspiracy by the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
Since the investigation of this case began two years ago, not one rupee has been recovered by the ED or the CBI despite over 1,000 raids on AAP leaders and ministers, said Atishi.
“Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest after the announcement of the Lok Sabha election is a conspiracy. Kejriwal is not just a man, he is a thought. If you think arresting one Kejriwal can finish off the thought, you are wrong. Kejriwal is, was and will remain the Delhi chief minister. We have said from the beginning that he will run the government from jail if need be. No law stops him from doing so,” she said.
Atishi stated that Kejriwal will continue to fight and that the party has filed a case with the Supreme Court challenging his arrest, pointing out that he has not been found guilty.
“Our lawyers are going to the court for urgent mentioning. We will demand that the case be heard tonight itself,” she said.
On Thursday night, a 12-person ED team showed up at Kejriwal’s house with a search warrant and questioned him before he was taken into custody.
At his house, data was moved from two tablets and a laptop, and his and his wife’s phones were seized.Teams from the CRPF, Delhi Police, and Rapid Action Force were stationed outside the residence as the ED officials conducted their interrogation inside.
AAP workers who had assembled to protest Mr. Kejriwal’s arrest were arrested and numerous areas outside the residence were placed under prohibition.Less than a week has passed after BRS leader K Kavitha was arrested in connection with the liquor policy issue, and the chief minister of Delhi was arrested.Kejriwal was initially identified as a conspirator in the case upon her apprehension.
There has been a great deal of conjecture that the Enforcement Directorate may detain the chief minister of Delhi ever since it issued the first summons to him in October of last year, requesting his appearance on November 2.In February of last year, Manish Sisodia, the former deputy chief minister of Delhi, was arrested in connection with the case; in October, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh was also brought into jail.Kejriwal has stated on numerous occasions that the Delhi liquor policy was not a scam and that the ED, which he believes is under BJP control, is out to get him.
Numerous opposition parties, including the AAP, have charged the BJP with abusing central agencies to target their leaders.They have said that in the lead-up to the Lok Sabha elections, which are scheduled to start on April 19, there has been an uptick in the harassment of opposition leaders.
