The CBI has alleged that the role of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwa.
Two former Goa legislators who contested the 2022 state Assembly elections as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates have alleged that a party volunteer paid them cash to meet campaign-related expenses, the CBI said in its chargesheet in the Delhi excise policy case.
The agency has alleged that of the total Rs 90-100 crore of ill-gotten money paid by the ‘South Group’ to tweak the excise policy in its favour, an amount of Rs 44.5 crore in cash was sent to Goa to meet election-related expenses.
In its fifth and final supplementary chargesheet in the case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged that the role of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, along with that of another accused, Durgesh Pathak, a Delhi MLA and the AAP in-charge of the Goa elections, has emerged in transferring the ill-gotten money and using it to meet election-related expenses.
The CBI has alleged that Pathak approached two former legislators, Mahadev Narayan Naik and Satyavijay Naik, and asked them to contest the February 2022 Assembly elections on AAP tickets from Shiroda and Valpoi constituencies respectively.
When they cited lack of funds to contest the elections, Pathak allegedly told them that “all election-related expenses would be borne by the AAP.”
According to Mahadev Naik’s statement, Pathak allegedly took him to Delhi and made him meet Kejriwal, who not only funded his ticket but also assured him that “the party would provide him all assistance”.
Citing statements by both candidates, the CBI has alleged that “they have further confirmed that all campaign expenses incurred by the AAP candidates were not paid by the candidates and were paid by the party in cash.”
Valpoi candidate Satyavijay Naik told the federal news agency that AAP volunteer Chanpreet Singh Rayat, already an accused in the case, allegedly paid him Rs 15-17 lakh in cash in instalments of Rs 1-2 lakh for election-related expenses like fuel, vehicles etc.
“They (Satyavijay and Mahadev) attended a meeting of all AAP candidates, convened by accused Arvind Kejriwal at Hotel Cidade De Goa, and in the said meeting, accused Arvind Kejriwal told all the candidates that they should not worry about election-related expenses and should only concentrate on campaigning,” the CBI alleged.
The agency has also cited “links” between Kejriwal and Vinod Chauhan, who allegedly transferred money to Goa, in its allegation to reinforce the point that the Delhi chief minister was aware that ill-gotten funds were used in the elections in the coastal state.
The agency has produced photographs of 18 Rs 10 notes that were allegedly recovered from Chauhan’s iPhone and used to transfer Rs 18 crore in cash to Rayat through the ‘Hawala’ route.
Citing various records allegedly recovered from Chauhan’s phone, the CBI has alleged that “these clearly show that accused Vinod Chauhan is well connected with accused Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP, and he acted as a conduit for accused Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP to transfer the ill-gotten excise policy money from Delhi to Goa through Hawala channel to accused Chanpreet Singh Rayat, who used to make cash payments to different vendors.”
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: September 7, 2024 | 07:22 IS
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