‘Totally illegal’: Arvind Kejriwal slams Sanjay Singh's arrest by ED

Sanjay Singh was arrested by the ED under Prevention of Money Laundering Act after the agency carried out searches at his residence.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday condemned his party's MP Sanjay Singh's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy case.

“Sanjay Singh's arrest is totally illegal. It highlights Modi ji's anger. He will arrest several opposition leaders in the run up to the elections”, Kejriwal posted on social media platform X.

Sanjay Singh was arrested by the ED under Prevention of Money Laundering Act after the agency carried out searches at his residence, the second high-profile AAP leader after former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia to be arrested in the case.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh shouts slogans with his supporters as he is being taken away from his residence after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Delhi Liquor Policy case, in New Delhi on Wednesday.(ANI)

Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj too hit out at the BJP over his party colleague's arrest. “Today, Sanjay Singh has been arrested without any evidence or concrete reason. It proves that the PM knows that he is losing the elections. There is desperation and fear of loss out of which the Central Government is making central agencies do such things”, he said in a briefing.

Another Delhi minister Atishi said,"It was a pre-planned script, that they (ED officials) would go to his residence and sit there for 8 hours and then arrest him. It shows the BJP's desperation. PM also knows that whether it is the upcoming elections of 4 states or the elections of 2024, the people have decided to overthrow the BJP government".

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Sanjay Singh was named in the ED chargesheet, which stated that a restaurateur named Dinesh Arora had met the Rajya Sabha MP during a party in his restaurant Unplugged Courtyard.

The agency said in 2020, Singh allegedly requested Arora to ask restaurant owners to generate funds for the AAP for the Delhi assembly elections. According to ED, Arora allegedly handed over a cheque of ₹82 lakh to Singh.

As per the chargesheet, Arora said in his statement that another accused Amit Arora wanted help in shifting his liquor shop from Okhla to Pitampura.

It was alleged that he managed to do this through Singh who told Sisodia after which the matter was resolved by the Excise Department.

Dinesh Arora also said he met Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal once at his residence with Singh while he had spoken to Sisodia five-six times, the charge sheet stated.