Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, April 16: Arvind Kejriwal, the CM of Delhi, claimed on Sunday that the BJP may have instructed the investigation agency to detain him and claimed they are “very powerful and can send anyone to jail” prior to his appearance before the CBI.
Kejriwal claimed in a five-minute video message posted to Twitter that he has nothing to hide and will respond to the CBI’s inquiries in the excise issue honestly and transparently. He said, “I have been summoned by CBI today and I will give all the answers with honesty. These people are very powerful. They can send anyone to jail, it does not matter if that person has committed any crime or not.”
“Since yesterday, all of their leaders are screaming at top of their voices that Kejriwal will be arrested and I think BJP has instructed CBI also that Kejriwal should be arrested. If BJP has given an order, then who is CBI? CBI is going to arrest me,” he added.
In connection with the excise policy issue, Kejriwal is scheduled to appear before the CBI on Sunday. His cabinet colleagues and his Punjabi counterpart, Bhagwant Mann, will accompany him to the agency’s office.
The AAP politician claimed in the video that the BJP threatens everyone and has the “ego” of power. “They keep threatening everyone to obey us or else they will send them to jail. These people are threatening to send Kejriwal to jail, but what will happen with this,” he asked.
Talking about his journey, he said, “You are saying that Kejriwal is corrupt. Earlier I used to work in income tax, I could have earned as much money as I wanted.I quit my job and worked in the slums of Delhi for many years.” If he is corrupt then no man in the world is honest, he said.
“Kejriwal lives for the country and will die for the country, if you call me 100 times for the CBI and ED, I will go 100 times,” he said and added, “I love the country and Bharat Mata, can sacrifice my life for the country”.
In the excise policy case, in which his former deputy Manish Sisodia was detained by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26, Kejriwal is being called as a witness but is not an accused. Last month, the ED detained Sisodia. The AAP has strenuously denied the claim that the Delhi government’s excise policy for 2021–22, which grants licences to liquor sellers, favoured some dealers who reportedly paid bribes for it. Later, the rule was dropped.
According to officials, the CBI may also question Kejriwal about the statements of other suspects who have described how policy was allegedly swayed to favour specific liquor industry figures and the “South liquor lobby”.
The agency may also inquire about his participation in the creation of the excise policy and his awareness of suspected influence exerted by traders and members of the “South lobby,” according to the authorities.
They added that Kejriwal might be questioned about whether he contributed to the creation of the policy before it received approval.
