Aam Aadmi Party's Goa unit president Amit Palekar along with three others, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday for interrogation regarding a money laundering case. According to reports, all four individuals were summoned for questioning regarding the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, in which Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and some other AAP leaders have been arrested.
Who all have been called for questioning?
Palekar, along with AAP leader Ramrao Wagh, and two others, Dattaprasad Naik and Ashok Naik, were called in for questioning by the central probe agency. Notably, Dattaprasad and Ashok are recognised leaders of the Bhandari community in Goa.
Palekar arrived at the ED office here at 12.10 pm, while the three others reached there before him at 11.15 am. Before entering the agency office, Palekar only said, "I have been summoned. I will talk to you all after I am back." However, others refused to talk on the matter. Palekar, who was the AAP's chief ministerial face during the February 2022 Goa Assembly polls, had recently said there was no evidence to prove that any illicit money was sent to the state, asserting that he and his party colleagues were ready to face any inquiry.
What does ED claim?
The ED has alleged that the AAP became a major beneficiary of proceeds from the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam. In its chargesheet, the agency claimed that the AAP used "proceeds of crime" to the tune of about Rs 45 crore in its Goa poll campaign, from the Rs 100 crore "bribe" that was pumped in by the "South Group" that allegedly involved Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha.
ED had no reply to questions asked in Delhi HC: AAP
Earlier on Wednesday, the Aam Aadmi Party criticized the Enforcement Directorate, alleging that the agency had not responded to the questions posed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's lawyers in the High Court regarding his arrest. The party's statement followed the Delhi High Court's decision not to intervene in Kejriwal's arrest by the ED in connection with a money laundering case related to the excise policy 'scam'. Meanwhile, the BJP asserted that Kejriwal's failure to obtain relief stemmed from the ED possessing "concrete" evidence against him. The BJP also suggested that the culmination of Kejriwal's "politics of deception" would occur in the forthcoming days.
Kejriwal arrested on March 21
It should be mentioned here that the ED had arrested Kejriwal on March 21 hours after the high court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the anti-money laundering probe agency. 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.
(With inputs from PTI)
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