Delhi Liquor Scam case: ED attaches assets of Manish Sisodia, others

Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached movable and immovable assets worth Rs 52.24 crore belonging to Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia, businessman Amandeep Singh Dhall, Rajesh Joshi of Chariot Advertising, liquor baron Gautam Malhotra and others in connection with the Delhi Liquor Scam case. The total attachment in the case is now Rs 128.78 crore.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached assets worth Rs 7.29 crore belonging to Sisodia and his wife Seema Sisodia. These attachments include two immovable properties owned by Sisodia and his wife, a flat belonging to Josh, and land owned by Malhotra. Furthermore, immovable assets worth Rs 44.29 crore, including bank balances of Sisodia amounting to Rs 11.49 lakh, and of Brindco Sales Pvt. Ltd. totalling Rs 16.45 crore, have also been attached.

This is the second Provisional Attachment Order issued in the case. The first order involved the attachment of immovable and movable properties worth Rs 76.54 crore belonging to Vijay Nair, Sameer Mahandru, Amit Arora, Arun Pillai, and others.

As of now, the total attachment in the case stands at Rs 128.78 crore, and the estimated proceeds of crime involved in this case are at least Rs 1934 crore, according to the ED. The ED arrested Dinesh Arora, an alleged aide of Sisodia, earlier today in the ongoing case. Arora had previously been granted approver status in the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) investigation, but based on the available evidence, the ED decided to arrest him. Arora has previously been questioned by the ED on multiple occasions. However, during today's interrogation, when confronted with facts, he failed to provide a satisfactory explanation, leading to his arrest.

In February, Sisodia, who held the excise portfolio and other ministries in the Delhi government, was arrested in relation to a corruption case involving the formulation and implementation of the liquor policy for 2021-22.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal too underwent a nine-hour questioning session by the CBI. Following the interrogation, Kejriwal stated that the probe agency lacked any evidence to suggest wrongdoing by the Aam Aadmi Party government in the creation of the now-scrapped new excise policy.