New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party leaders raised alarm on Wednesday night about Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal likely being arrested following a raid at his home by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
AAP Ministers tweeted hours after Kejriwal refused to appear for questioning in the alleged Delhi liquor scam. Party sources said they are ready for any eventuality.
Delhi ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj tweeted on Wednesday night claiming they had information that ED would raid Kejriwal's residence on Thursday morning after which the Delhi CM was likely to 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 Aatishi on X.
However, ED, which is probing the money laundering angle, said they have no such information. The central agency has called Kejriwal for questioning multiple times but he has skipped summons 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, Kejriwal was questioned for nine hours by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He has not been named as an accused in the case.
The Delhi CM 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. The party want Kejriwal to remain the Chief Minister and do his job from jail.
The CBI argues 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. ED 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 also took a dig 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.