NEW DELHI, Oct 4:
Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP, was today arrested by the Enforcement Directorate here in connection with its money laundering probe linked to the 2021-22 Delhi Excise policy case, in a jolt to Delhi’s ruling party after its third top leader was held by a central agency in over a year.
The arrest of 51-year-old Singh, who became the second high profile leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to be nabbed in the case relating to the now scrapped Excise policy after former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, sparked a political slugfest between the Arvind Kejriwal-led party and the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). Delhi minister Satyendar Jain was arrested by the ED on May 30, 2022 in a separate money laundering case.
After a day-long questioning, Singh was placed under arrest under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED officials swooped on his official residence in North Avenue early this morning and conducted searches.
Singh is expected to be produced before a local court in Delhi on Thursday where the ED will seek his custodial interrogation.
The searches and subsequent arrest of Singh comes a day after a Delhi court had allowed Raghav Magunta, son of YSR Congress Party Lok Sabha MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, and Delhi-based businessman Dinesh Arora to turn approver in the money laundering case connected to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
Several members of the opposition bloc INDIA rallied behind Singh, with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar saying the arrest will further strengthen the new alliance that was formed to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called the arrest “completely illegal” and alleged it was a desperate measure by the BJP.
“The arrest of Sanjay Singh is completely illegal. This shows (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji’s nervousness. They will arrest many more opposition leaders until the elections,” the AAP national convener said in a post on X.
In a video message recorded before his arrest, Singh said the ED was forcibly arresting him without any evidence.
“I accept dying but not bowing down. I exposed Adani’s scams and filed multiple complaints with ED but no action was taken against Adani. Modi ji is losing the 2024 elections badly. They cannot win by committing atrocities and putting people in jail.
“I had earlier also spoken against Adani’s scams, I will continue to do so in future as well. We are (Arvind) Kejriwal’s soldiers and will not back down in the face of atrocities,” Singh said in the message released to the media. The AAP is also in power in Punjab. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
