Singh arrest sparks political firestorm

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday launched a blistering broadside at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested party's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh in connection with the agency's investigation into alleged irregularities in the implementation of Delhi excise policy, linking the action to the BJP's "growing desperation" ahead of the next year's Lok Sabha elections.

- Alok KN Mishra

Singh, 51, was arrested after nearly day-long questioning at his North Avenue residence.

An ED officer said that Singh was arrested under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for allegedly playing a key role in getting favours for himself and certain businessmen through his aides by influencing the now-scrapped policy. "We have found robust evidence which reveals that Sanjay Singh benefitted from the excise policy through his aides. He was not cooperating in the probe since the beginning," the officer said asking not to be named.

Singh, the most prominent political voice of the AAP both inside and outside the Parliament, is the second leader from the Delhi's ruling party to be arrested in the excise policy probe. Then Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the same case in February.

Delhi chief minister and AAP's national convener Arvind Kejriwal said Singh's arrest was "illegal" reflected Minister Narendra Modi's "nervousness".

"The arrest of Sanjay Singh is completely illegal. This shows Modi ji's nervousness. They will arrest many more opposition leaders before the elections," Kejriwal said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). Earlier in the day Kejriwal linked the ED raid at Singh's residence with the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and said, "It seems to be the last desperate effort of a person who is going to lose."