The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted raids in the Delhi Excise Policy case. Around 38-40 premises in Delhi, Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka are being searched and private individuals and some government officials named in the case are being raided, the officials said.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and some bureaucrats have been named as accused in the alleged scam related to the Delhi excise policy, which has now been rolled back.
But these do not include premises linked to Sisodia, the officilas told PTI news agency.
Last month, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided 31 places including the residence of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in alleged irregularities in Delhi excise policy 2021-22. Sisodia's bank locker was also by the CBI in Ghaziabad's Vasundhara.
The CBI had conducted raids in the case on August 19, covering the Delhi residences of Sisodia (50), IAS officer and former Delhi excise commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna, and 19 other locations across seven states and Union Territories
The probe was done after taking into account a report forwarded by the Chief Secretary to Delhi's Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommending a CBI investigation into the matter.
The LG office said that Sisodia also extended financial favours to liquor licensees much after the tenders had been awarded and thus caused considerable losses to the exchequer.
Meanwhile, a CBI officer was found hanging at his residence in Delhi on September 1. Sisodia alleged that the deceased ended his life because of pressure to frame him in a false excise case and demanded an "independent judicial" probe into his death.
However, the Delhi Police said a preliminary investigation into the alleged suicide of a CBI officer, as well as the post-mortem report, do not indicate any foul play.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Benita Mary Jaiker had also said the suicide note recovered from Kumar's residence did not blame anyone for his death.
"A crime team, along with a forensic mobile team, was called. They broke open the door. Kumar's wife Jyoti lives in Mandi and his brother Rajender lives in Chandigarh. They reached Delhi after being informed about the incident. Information was also given to senior CBI officers who came to the spot. No foul play was found," Jaiker had said.
CBI said Kumar was in "no way connected" with the probe related to the excise policy case and Sisodia's statements were "an attempt to divert attention from the ongoing investigation" in the matter.
