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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi on Friday alleged that the police did not allow party leaders to meet the family of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the alleged excise policy scam.
Oberoi alleged that the party leaders who marched towards the residence of Delhi CM Kejriwal in the Civil Lines area were stopped and denied meeting Kejriwal's family. "We have come to meet Arvind Kejriwal's family but police and administration are not allowing us to go inside. Democracy can't be murdered like this and we can't be stopped from raising our voices. The people of Delhi are with Arvind Kejriwal," Oberoi told ANI. High voltage drama unfolded on Thursday late night when the ED arrested Kejriwal in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy case linked to a money laundering case. The case pertains to alleged irregularities and money laundering in framing and implementing the Delhi excise policy case 2022, which was later scrapped. Earlier, several party leaders, including Delhi Ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Atishi, were detained by the Delhi police during the party protest against the arrest of the CM. The Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi reserved its decision this afternoon on the ED's request for Arvind Kejriwal's 10-day custody. In the hearing, the probe agency called Kejriwal the "kingpin" and "key conspirator" in the alleged scam. It claimed Arvind Kejriwal was the middleman between the 'south group' and other accused, including ex-Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia (arrested last year) and AAP officer Vijay Nair. Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared for the Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor while Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju and Special Counsel Zoheb Hossain appeared for the central probe agency. In its arguments before the court, the ED alleged that the Chief Minister of Delhi is the key conspirator and kingpin in demanding kickbacks from businessmen. The agency further claimed that Kejriwal was directly involved in the formation of the now-scrapped Excise policy. Senior Advocate Singhvi appearing for Kejriwal opposed the remand plea and submitted that the agency needs to show the necessity to arrest. Singhvi argued that the power of arrest and the necessity of arrest are two different things. Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel has also slammed the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), asking it to present the evidence if it had any. "If ED says that it has the evidence, then why is it seeking remand? If ED has the evidence, then it should present it..." he said. Earlier Manish Sisodia, who was the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26 following several rounds of questioning. On October 5, ED arrested Sanjay Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member. (ANI)
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