New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has told a local court that AAP leader Vijay Nair, arrested in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi liquor policy case, had taken a bribe of Rs 100 crore from a “southern group” controlled by some businessmen and politicians.
The ED told the court said that AAP leaders, some of whom are part of the government, manipulated the liquor policy to generate illegal funds at the cost of the state exchequer. The ED said that Amit Arora has revealed in his statements that on behalf of AAP leaders, Vijay Nair had taken Rs 100 crore as bribe from a south-based group (Sharat Reddy, K Kavitha, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy). According to officials, Kavita is the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
The agency also said that 35 accused, including Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and a PA of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, used or destroyed 170 phones to hide evidence in the alleged bribery case of thousands of crores of rupees in the alleged scam. He told the court that the ED has managed to recover 17 of the 170 phones.
The ED, while attaching the report in the remand note, has said that Sisodia used four different mobile numbers and they changed the IMEI 14 times between June 6 and October 14. Referring to the cellphone of Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, the ED has claimed that he had the same SIM number but changed the IMEI thrice.
The agency also said that Kavita used two SIMs and changed the IMEI 10 times. The federal probe agency also claimed that the Delhi government suffered a revenue loss of 12 per cent or Rs 581 crore to fill the personal coffers of AAP leaders.
According to report, there has been a total revenue loss of Rs 2,873 crore due to alleged irregularities in the policy. Nair, in his statement to the ED, said he worked from Kejriwal’s office and lived in a government bungalow allotted to Gehlot.