Kejriwal’s nephew arrested: Manish Sisodia says Centre only wants agencies to harass AAP leaders
Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari demanded Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday criticised the Centre and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, claiming that they felt the Delhi Police and Anti-Corruption Bureau were present only to harass leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party and even their relatives and children, PTI reported.
Sisodia was referring to the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s nephew Vinay Bansal who is accused of submitting fake bills to claim money for construction work. Bansal, the son of Kejriwal’s brother-in law, was sent to one-day judicial custody on Thursday.
“If the police and Anti-Corruption Bureau do not do it [harass AAP leaders], they are pulled up.” Sisodia said. He added that the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, had done a third-party audit of the drainage system project and submitted a report. The Public Works Department and the Anti-Corruption Bureau also conducted inquiries and found that the work was satisfactory, he claimed.
Sisodia praised the justice system in the country and said the police and Anti-Corruption Bureau would be exposed once the case went to court.
In May 2017, the anti-corruption unit registered three first information reports in the case on the basis of a complaint that whistle blower Rahul Sharma had filed. Sharma alleged irregularities in the grant of contracts for roads and sewer lines in Delhi in 2015-’16, and accused Surender Kumar Bansal’s company of sending “false and fabricated” bills worth Rs 6 crore to the Public Works Department that were not completed.
Meanwhile, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party chief Manoj Tiwari claimed that Kejriwal had provided patronage to Vinay Bansal and demanded the chief minister’s resignation. Tiwari added that Kejriwal has lost all “moral right” to rule. He also dismissed AAP’s outrage at the arrest.
“For almost a year under the pressure of the Kejriwal government, the bureau sat upon the matter but ultimately the law had to take its course and Bansal has been arrested,” Tiwari claimed.