ED searches AAP MP Sanjay Singh's aides' homes, offices in liquor policy case

Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia is in Tihar Jail in connection with the liquor excise policy case.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh on Wednesday morning claimed Enforcement Directorate raids at premises belonging to two of his aides in connection with the now-cancelled liquor excise policy in Delhi and declared 'Modi dictatorship (is) at its peak'.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh addresses a press conference, in New Delhi, on Monday, May 22, 2023. (PTI Photo/Manvender Vashist Lav)

"(This is) Modi's bullying is at its peak. I am fighting against Modi's dictatorship. The fake investigation of (the) ED was exposed in front of the whole country. ED accepted (its) mistake... (and now) when nothing was found (after raids on his home), today ED raided colleagues Ajit Tyagi and Sarvesh Mishra," Singh said.

"Sarvesh's father is suffering from cancer, this is the end of the crime."

The AAP re-tweeted Singh's video message and accused the central investigative agency of harassing his aides after having been slapped with a defamation notice for having named Sanjay Singh in a chargesheet 'by mistake'.

The case is linked to revisions in the 2021/22 liquor excise policy in the city as ordered by ex-deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia - now in Tihar Jail - who allegedly did so with 'intention to extend undue favours to licensees…'

Earlier this month AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal slammed the Enforcement Directorate after Singh claimed he received a letter from the agency that 'admitted my name was written by mistake in the chargesheet'.

READ | 'By mistake?' Kejriwal after ED names Sanjay Singh in liquor case

"Does anyone get named in a chargesheet by mistake? It is clear from this the whole case is fake..." he fumed and accused prime minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of trying 'to defame the most honest party...'

Sources in the ED were quoted by news agency PTI as acknowledging that Singh's name had been incorrectly mentioned at one point.

Singh has denied any wrongdoing and has claimed a political conspiracy.

This was after another AAP leader - Delhi minister Raghav Chadha - had to deny reports he too had been named in the chargesheet.

READ | Raghav Chadha in ED's excise policy chargesheet; AAP MP reacts

"... have not been named as an accused, suspect or even as a witness, in any complaint filed by the ED..." Chadha said in a formal statement.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police on Tuesday claimed its personnel had not misbehaved with Sisodia at the city's Rouse Avenue Court.

This was after Kejriwal shared a video of cops surrounding Sisodia as reporters pressed him for comment on (yet another) row between the AAP and the BJP, this time over the Delhi services ordinance.

READ | As Kejriwal shares video of 'cops manhandling Sisodia', police clarify

"… talk of police misbehaviour with Sisodia… is propaganda. Response as seen in video was imperative from a security point of view," Delhi Police responded.

Judicial custody of Sisodia has been extended till June 1.