ED grills Kejriwal's PA in Delhi excise policy 'scam'

New Delhi, February 23

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday questioned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s personal assistant Bibhav Kumar in connection with alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.

He recorded his statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

His questioning is understood to be related to the ED’s charges made before the court that at least 36 accused, including Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Kumar, “destroyed, used or changed” 170 phones to conceal evidence of “kickbacks” worth thousands of crores of rupees in the alleged scam.

According to the ED’s chargesheet filed before a local court, the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) of Kumar’s mobile number was changed four times between September 2021 and July 2022. The ED had alleged a part of the alleged Rs 100 crore “kickbacks” generated in the scrapped excise policy was “used” in the 2022 Goa election campaign of the Kejriwal-led party.