ED Summons Delhi Minister Kailash Gehlot Days After Arvind Kejriwal's Arrest (image@kgahlot)

Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi Minister Kailash Gahlot has been summoned for questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over an alleged money laundering case linked to Delhi liquor policy. The Delhi Minister for home, transport, and law has been called for questioning just days after the Chief Minister Aravind Kejriwal was arrested in the same case.

Reportedly, the ED sources claim that Kailash Gahlot has been asked to appear for questioning in the case and getting his statement recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The case is linked with the alleged corruption and money laundering in formulating and executing Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021-2022. It was later scrapped.

The ED claims that the policy provided huge profit margin of over 185 per cent for retailers and 12 per cent for wholesalers. From the later, 6 per cent, over Rs 600 crore, was recovered as bribes and the money was allegedly used to fund poll campaigns in Punjab and Goa.

Three of the Aam Aadmi Party’s prominent leaders were arrested in the case, including the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The other two are Sanjay Singh, AAP MP, and Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi. The daughter of the former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader, K Kavitha is also behind the bars for the same case.

Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the central agency on March 21 over his alleged involvement in the Delhi excise policy scam case. After the arrest, the AAP leaders and ministers stated that the Chief Minister would continue to rule Delhi from the jail. The Delhi High Court has extended hid ED custody till April 1.