Bizman, AAP leader face ED probe in liquor scam; get bail over CBI arrest

HYDERABAD: Hours before Hyderabad-based businessman Abhishek Boinpally and AAP leader Vijay Nair were about to secure release from the CBI on bail, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) stepped in to seek custody of the two accused in the Delhi liquor scam probe.

Minutes after a Delhi court issued bail to the two accused with regard to the arrest made by the CBI, it ordered them to police custody for five days, as sought by the ED.

The ED took the duo into custody hours before the bail was granted and petitioned the court for 14-day police custody.

The ED informed the PMLA court that agency sleuths have undertaken as many as 169 search operations in the case so far.

It also informed the court that the policy was ‘leaked’ to certain liquor manufacturers about 45 days before its public release and a probe found that three dozen VIPs, including Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Sisodia, allegedly changed as many as 140 mobile phones with the intention to destroy digital evidence.

The ED said several people questioned by it during the course of investigation “have revealed that bribes to the tune of Rs 100 crore had been given in advance for undue benefits to select business groups to operate in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22.”

The money laundering case stems from a CBI FIR that had named Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia as an accused among others.

The ED told the court that Nair was an event manager and businessman Abhishek Boinapally, directly and indirectly, had links with the other accused in money transfers in the Delhi liquor scam case.

The agency said it would question the duo and probe their links with the other accused, namely Sameer Mahendru and Hyderabad-based businessman P. Sharath Chandra Reddy, a director of Aurobindo Pharma, who is suspected to be a major player in the scam.

The bail, over the CBI arrest, was granted on submission of Rs 2-lakh bonds by each of them.

Meanwhile, the ED is continuing to question Sharath Chandra Reddy after he and Benoy Babu were recently arrested by the agency.