Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Friday alleged that the liquor scam is a big conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to put Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal behind bars adding that senior saffron party leaders were involved in this.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Sanjay Singh, who was released from Tihar Jail on Wednesday after Supreme Court granted him bail in the excise policy case, said, "Today, I am present here in front of you to tell you how the conspiracy was made to arrest Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal... I will also reveal that this liquor scam has been done by BJP. The senior leaders of BJP are involved in this..."
"There is one person, Magunta Reddy, who gave three statements, his son Raghav Magunta gave seven statements. On 16th September, when he (Magunta Reddy) was first asked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) whether he knew Arvind Kejriwal, he told the truth and said that he met Arvind Kejriwal but in the matter of charitable trust land. But after that, his son was arrested and after five months of keeping him in jail, his father changed his statement... From 10th February to 16th July, seven statements of Raghav Magunta were taken. In six of the seven statements, he does not say anything against Arvind Kejriwal, but in the seventh statement on 16th July, he changes his stance and becomes a part of the conspiracy and gives a statement against Arvind Kejriwal. After 5 months of torture, he changed his statement and stood against Arvind Kejriwal..."
What is Delhi liquor scam?
The case pertains to the alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing the Delhi government's excise policy for 2021-22 which was later scrapped. The case originated from a report presented by Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar to Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena in July 2022, highlighting purported procedural deficiencies in the development of the policy. The report said "arbitrary and unilateral decisions" taken by AAP leader Manish Sisodia in his capacity as Excise Minister had resulted in "financial losses to the exchequer" estimated at more than Rs 580 crore.
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