Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday claimed that officers of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probing the excise policy case were against deputy CM Manish Sisodia’s arrest but had to “obey their political masters” because of immense pressure. Kejriwal claimed that the CBI officers “have a huge respect” for the Sisodia and there was “no evidence against him.”
“I am told that most CBI officers were against Manish’s arrest. All of them have huge respect for him and there is no evidence against him. But the political pressure to arrest him was so high that they had to obey their political masters,” Kejriwal said in a tweet.
On Sunday, CBI arrested Sisodia in connection with alleged irregularities with an old liquor policy in a major escalation between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in the city and the Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre. Sisodia is the second minister of the Delhi government to be arrested by a federal agency, a move that AAP said was in offing as part of a political plot against the party.
Sisodia “gave evasive replies and did not co-operate [with] the investigation despite being confronted with evidence to the contrary. Therefore, he has been arrested,” said a statement issued by CBI spokesperson RC Joshi.
