Sisodia changed handsets 14 times to destroy evidence in excise case: BJP

Referring to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) remand note submitted to the court pertaining to Amit Arora, BJP's Sambit Patra said that apart from Manish Sisodia, Delhi minister Kailash Gahlot, who was member of the Delhi government’s group of ministers, also changed his handset twice.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Saturday that Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia used 14 handsets in the two-three months after the First Information Report (FIR) was registered in the excise policy case for the first time.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia during a public meeting for the MCD elections in New Delhi on Friday. (Manish Sisodia/Twitter)

Addressing a press conference, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra said, “Sisodia changed his mobile handset on July 22, 2022, when the first FIR was registered in the excise policy case. Sisodia changed the handsets four times on August 20, (three days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) lodged an FIR against him). For four mobile numbers, Sisodia changed handsets 14 times in a span of 2-3 months. He must have consulted Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Vijay Nair, Amit Arora and others after the FIR was registered.”

Referring to the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) remand note submitted to the court pertaining to Amit Arora, Patra said that apart from Sisodia, Delhi minister Kailash Gahlot, who was member of the Delhi government’s group of ministers, also changed his handset twice. Vijay Nair, the former chief executive officer of Only Much Louder (OML) and AAP member who was arrested in September by CBI, changed his handset 10-11 times, said Patra. “There was large-scale destruction of evidence. There are 36 people who used 170 mobile phones to destroy digital evidence,” he added.

BJP’s allegations come days after Kejriwal said that the absence of Sisodia’s name in the charge sheet translates to a “clean chit” as the investigating agency couldn’t find any proof against him.

Patra said, “Sisodia is completely involved in the corruption in Delhi’s excise policy. That’s why the investigation is taking time. The 32-page remand note shows that the investigation is going on against Manish Sisodia. The allegations are serious in nature. It is taking some time as the investigating agencies are preparing fool-proof documents on Sisodia.”

The allegation comes a day before polling in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi election. “This is not politics of vendetta. This is an investigation of finality. ₹3,000 crore of public money was wasted. This is to recover the money and ensure justice is done to the people,” said Patra.

AAP could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts.