Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal could be arrested in the morning following a raid at his home, leaders of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party tweeted hours after he refused to appear for questioning in the alleged Delhi liquor scam. Party sources said they are ready for any eventuality. Sources in the Enforcement Directorate – the central agency probing the money laundering angle, which has called Mr Kejriwal for questioning several times — have said they have no such information.

“News coming in that ED is going to raid @ArvindKejriwal’s residence tmrw morning. Arrest likely,” posted senior party leader and Delhi minister Aatishi on X, formerly Twitter.

News coming in that ED is going to raid @ArvindKejriwal‘s residence tmrw morning. Arrest likely.

— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) January 3, 2024

Similar posts were seen on the handles of senior party leaders Saurabh Bhardwaj, Jasmine Shah and Sandeep Pathak.

सुनने में आ रहा है कल सुबह मुख्यमंत्री केजरीवाल जी के घर ED पहुँच कर उन्हें गिरफ़्तार करने वाली है ।

— Saurabh Bharadwaj (@Saurabh_MLAgk) January 3, 2024

BREAKING

Sources confirm that ED is going to raid the residence of CM Arvind Kejriwal tomorrow morning.

He is likely to be arrested.

— Jasmine Shah (@Jasmine441) January 3, 2024

Mr Kejriwal has skipped summons for questioning thrice. The last time he refused to appear was today. He had also refused to appear before the probe agency on November 2 and December 21. Under the rules, a non-bailable warrant can be issued against him any time and he can be arrested.

In April, he was questioned for nine hours by the Central Bureau of Investigation. He has not been named as an accused in the case.

Mr Kejriwal insists that the summons are “motivated” and says it is not clear whether he is being called as a witness or a suspect in the case.His party said it was a plan to stop him from campaigning in the national election due later this year.

With three of its leaders — Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Satyendra Jain — behind the bars, AAP has long been anticipating the eventuality and has discussed the possible courses of action.  They even want Mr Kejriwal to remain the Chief Minister and do his job from jail.

The CBI contends that liquor companies were involved in framing the excise policy, which would have brought them a 12 per cent profit. A liquor lobby it dubbed the “South Group” had paid kickbacks, part of which was routed to public servants. The Enforcement Directorate alleged laundering of the kickbacks.

The BJP has alleged that the proceeds of the alleged scam were used by the AAP to fund its large-scale campaign in Gujarat, in which it got a 12.91 per cent votes and established itself as a national party.

The party has also taken a swipe at the Delhi Chief Minister, saying he is “shaking in fear” and is not appearing before the agency because he knows that he is the “kingpin” of the alleged liquor policy scam.

In a shocking crime with many layers, a former model and ex-girlfriend of a gangster has been murdered by a hotel owner and his associates in Gurugram, police said. Her body, which was dragged to a BMW and dumped somewhere, is yet to be found.

The reason for the killing is unknown, but what is adding to the mystery is the fact that the victim was an accused in the alleged fake encounter of her then boyfriend — who was Gurugram’s most-wanted gangster — in 2016. She was in prison for seven years and got bail only last year.

Officials from Gurugram’s Sector 14 police station said they received a complaint from the family of 27-year-old Divya Pahuja that she had gone out with her friend Abhijeet Singh on January 1 and had gone missing. They informed the police that Singh owned Hotel City Point in Gurugram and that Pahuja’s phone had been switched off for several hours.

When police reached the hotel and checked the CCTV footage, they saw a body wrapped in a sheet being dragged down a corridor. Singh and two of his aides have been arrested for the former model’s murder and police are now trying to find her body.

An official said Singh had allegedly paid the two men Rs 10 lakh to put the body in his BMW and dump it somewhere it would not be found. The two aides have been identified as Omprakash and Hemraj,

‘Drove In Direction Of Punjab’

A police official said Pahuja had gone out with Singh on New Year’s Day and they had reached his hotel, along with one of Singh’s associates, around 4.15 am the next day. They were joined by at least one other man.

“After they killed Pahuja, two of Singh’s aides dragged the body down the hotel corridor and put it in his BMW. They drove in the direction of Punjab and disposed of the body,” said the official.

Gangster Connection

Pahuja was the girlfriend of Gurugram’s most-wanted gangster Sandeep Gadoli, who was killed by the Haryana police in an encounter in a Mumbai hotel in 2016. Pahuja was in the hotel room with Gadoli when he was killed.

Several police officials were later arrested when it was alleged that the encounter was fake. Pahuja and her mother were also taken into custody for allegedly revealing the gangster’s whereabouts and facilitating the alleged fake encounter.

Pahuja was in prison for seven years and had been granted bail by the Bombay High Court in July last year.

Evidence Destruction

Assistant Commissioner of Police Mukesh Kumar said the accused had tried to destroy evidence after committing the murder. “The family members said that after her phone had been switched off for hours, they went to the hotel and demanded to see the CCTV footage, but were refused. After registering a complaint, officials from Sector 14 police station went to the hotel and saw the CCTV footage in which Pahuja’s body was being dragged. We are looking for the body,” Mr Kumar said.

Pahuja was a resident of Baldev Nagar in Gurugram while Singh lives in Delhi’s South Extension.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal could be arrested today after a raid at his house, leaders of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party said hours after he refused to appear for questioning in the Delhi liquor policy case. Party sources also claimed that the roads leading to Mr Kejriwal’s residence have been blocked by Delhi police.

This was the third notice to Mr Kejriwal, also the AAP’s national convenor, after he refused to appear before the Enforcement Directorate on two earlier summons for November 2 and December 21.

Several AAP leaders on Wednesday said that Mr Kejriwal’s house would be raided by the probe agency today morning, following which he could be arrested. 

“News coming in that ED is going to raid @ArvindKejriwal’s residence tmrw morning. Arrest likely,” posted senior party leader and Delhi minister Atishi on X, formerly Twitter.

Similar posts were seen on the handles of senior party leaders Saurabh Bhardwaj, Jasmine Shah and Sandeep Pathak.

Mr Kejriwal insists that the summons are “motivated” and says it is not clear whether he is being called as a witness or a suspect in the case.His party said it was a plan to stop him from campaigning in the national election due later this year.

With three of its leaders — Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Satyendra Jain — behind the bars, AAP has long been anticipating the eventuality and has discussed the possible courses of action.  They even want Mr Kejriwal to remain the Chief Minister and do his job from jail.

The CBI contends that liquor companies were involved in framing the excise policy, which would have brought them a 12 per cent profit. A liquor lobby it dubbed the “South Group” had paid kickbacks, part of which was routed to public servants. The Enforcement Directorate alleged laundering of the kickbacks.