Manish Sisodia excise policy scam: The Central Bureau of Investigation has issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against 13 accused including Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the Excise Policy scam, sources said.
The development comes after two of the accused were found missing during the CBI raids in 31 locations in Delhi.
CBI had registered an FIR against Sisodia and 14 others in connection with alleged irregularities in the excise policy which was implemented in November last year.
Excise officials, liquor company executives, dealers, along with unknown public servants and private persons have also been booked in the case.
Meanwhile, taking to Twitter Manish Sisodia today said, "The raids at his house have failed as the agency could not find anything."
The FIR alleged that Sisodia, Arva Gopi Krishna, Anand Tiwari and Pankaj Bhatnagar, were instrumental in recommending and taking decisions pertaining to excise policy for the year 2021-22 "without the approval of competent authority with an intention to extend undue favours to the licencees post tender".
On Friday, the CBI conducted raids at Sisodia's residence, in connection with the alleged corruption in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy.
It was alleged that irregularities were committed including modifications in the Excise Policy and undue favours were extended to the license holders including waiver or reduction in licence fee, an extension of L-1 license without approval etc.
It was further alleged that illegal gains on the count of these acts were diverted to concerned public servants by private parties and making false entries in their books of accounts.
Delhi liquor policy scam: AAP vs BJP
Stepping up the attack against the AAP government, the BJP on Saturday claimed that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was the "kingpin" in the "liquor scam" while his deputy Manish Sisodia was the accused number one.
Addressing a press conference, Union Minister Anurag Thakur accused the Aam Aadmi Party of trying to divert the issue from the alleged scam by linking the CBI action to politics and said its "real face has been unmasked".
As the war of words escalated between the BJP and the AAP, Thakur also made light of AAP leaders' claims about their rising poll prospects.
Earlier in the day, Sisodia claimed that the 2024 polls will be a battle between Kejriwal and Modi who he alleged was using all means, including the probe agencies against the party leaders, to scare the AAP chief.
The party (AAP) had made tall claims ahead of a number of elections but could not stand before Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Thakur said and added that it could not open its account in the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
The BJP under Modi will better its Lok Sabha tally in 2024 in the same way it had improved on its 2014 show in 2019, he asserted.
Also Read | It will be Modi vs Kejriwal in 2024 polls, says Manish Sisodia a day after raid
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