New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested businessman Amit Arora while taking action in connection with the alleged scam in the new excise policy of the Delhi government. Amit Arora is the Director of Buddy Retail Pvt. Officials said Arora was arrested last night under criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Sources said he is expected to be produced before a local court where the agency will seek his custody.
The ED has claimed that Amit Arora, and two other accused Dinesh Arora, and Arjun Pandey, are close aides of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. It was he who hid the money received from the liquor licensees. Earlier ED had raided 35 locations in relation to the case. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has also been charged by ED related to the case. Apart from the Enforcement Directorate, the CBI has also filed a chargesheet in this case earlier this week. The arrested businessman Amit Arora was a key player in the Excise scam case.
Apart from Sisodia, the name of other famous people has also come in the chargesheet of both ED and CBI. The Central Bureau of Investigation agency named 7 people from the Aam Aadmi party which includes Vijay Nair, the communication strategist of the party, and Abhishek Boinpally, a businessman who has been under the radar for lobbying retail liquor licenses for South India-based companies.
Apart from them, Sameer Mahendru, the managing director of liquor distributor Indospirit Group, Mootha Gautam, the managing director of India Ahead News, Arun Ramchandra Pillai, a Telangana-based businessman, Narendra Singh, the former assistant excise commissioner, and Kuldeep Singh, former deputy excise commissioner, were also named in the charge sheet. The ED officials have also claimed that a Rs 100 crore bribe has been given to public servants related to the case.