The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday, 16 September, launched fresh raids at 40 locations across the country as part of a money laundering investigation into alleged irregularities in the now scrapped Delhi Excise Policy, officials said.
The ED also reached the Tihar Jail to question imprisoned Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain in connection with the case.
The searches are being conducted at various premises linked to liquor businessmen, distributors and supply chain networks in Nellore and some other cities in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Delhi-NCR, they said.
This is the second round of raids being conducted by the federal agency in this case after it first conducted searches on 6 September at about 45 locations across the country.
The ED case of money laundering in the excise policy stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) First Information Report (FIR) in which Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and some bureaucrats have been named as accused. The excise policy has been rolled back now.
'CBI, ED Unnecessarily Troubling Everyone': CM Kejriwal
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal slammed the raids, saying that the CBI and the ED were "unnecessarily troubling everyone" and that if this went on, the country will not be able to go forward.
Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said, "One of their (BJP) leaders says that it is a scam of Rs 8,000 crore, the LG says it is a scam of Rs 144 crore and the CBI FIR says there is a scam of Rs 1 crore. I don't understand what the liquor scam is."
The CBI had conducted raids in the case on 19 August, covering the Delhi residences of Sisodia, 50, IAS officer and former Delhi excise commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna, and 19 other locations across seven states and Union Territories.
Sisodia holds multiple portfolios in the Delhi government including excise and education.
The ED is probing if alleged irregularities were done in the formulation and execution of the Delhi Excise Policy brought out in November last year and if some alleged "proceeds of crime" in terms of tainted money was generated by the accused.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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