Delhi excise policy case: ED arrests individual who ‘managed’ AAP funds in Goa polls

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested one Chanpreet Singh, who allegedly managed Aam Aadmi Party’s funds for Goa assembly elections 2022, procured through bribes in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22, people familiar with the development said on Monday.

Singh was taken into custody on April 12 and was produced before a special court on Saturday. He is the 17th person to be arrested by the ED in the case.

Officials familiar with the probe said Chanpreet Singh was previously arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in May 2023.

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It is alleged that Singh was collecting money from hawala operators and distributing further for the expenses incurred by AAP during Goa elections.

An official, who didn’t want to be named, said,“He managed cash payments made to survey workers, assembly managers and others linked to AAP”.

The ED informed a court on Saturday that it has evidence which “establish a deep relationship and nexus of Chanpreet Singh with all major conspirators/accused in the Delhi liquor probe i.e. Vijay Nair, Rajesh Joshi and certain AAP leaders and the AAP.”

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The agency has claimed that the AAP received around ₹100 crore in bribes from the South Group and that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal used his position to utilise proceeds of crime worth about ₹45 crore from the alleged kickbacks in AAP’s election campaign in Goa in 2022.

The ‘South Group’ comprised of YSR Congress MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, his son Raghav Magunta, Sarath Reddy (promoter of Aurobindo Group), K Kavitha (daughter of Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao), and Delhi businessman Sameer Mahendru, and it controlled nine out of 32 retail liquor zones in Delhi.

Kejriwal and Kavitha were arrested last month and are currently lodged in Tihar prison.

The Delhi government’s 2021-22 excise policy aimed to revitalise the city’s flagging liquor business. It aimed to replace a sales-volume based regime with a license fee one for traders, and promised swankier stores, free of the infamous metal grilles, ultimately giving customers a better buying experience. The policy also introduced discounts and offers on the purchase of liquor, a first for Delhi.

The plan, however, came to an abrupt end, with Delhi’s lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena recommending a probe into alleged irregularities in the regime. This ultimately resulted in the policy being scrapped prematurely and being replaced by the 2020-21 regime, with AAP alleging that Saxena’s predecessor sabotaged the move with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.