Water tanker scam: ACB summons Mishra, asks him to join probe

Delhi's Anti Corruption Branch on Monday said that it has summoned sacked Water Minister Kapil Mishra to join its probe in the alleged Rs 400 crore water tanker scam.

“We have called Kapil Mishra at 11 am tomorrow (Tuesday) for questioning,” said ACB chief Mukesh Kumar Meena.

Earlier, the ACB had questioned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's political adviser Vibhav Patel in the alleged scam on May 14.

The ACB had summoned Patel after Mishra told the agency that two persons who were close to Kejriwal, i.e. Patel and Ashish Talwar, were responsible for the delay in action in the water tanker scam.

However, during his questioning, Patel had denied any involvement in the matter. Now, the agency has called Mishra for cross-questioning.

Mishra had earlier recorded his statement with the ACB on May 11, after he submitted evidence in support of his allegations.

The Rs 400 crore water tanker scam – involving alleged favouritism shown in allotment of contracts to private water tanker operators supplying water to areas falling outside the Delhi Jal Board's network – took place under the previous Congress government in the city.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Mishra took a fresh jibe at the Kejriwal saying that even Suresh Kalmadi and Dawood Ibrahim are not behind bars, but did it mean that they are innocent.

Kejriwal had, on Sunday, said that if the corruption allegations made against him were true, he would have been in jail by now. The Aam Aadmi Party chief was responding to the volley of questions thrown at him by Mishra on money laundering and corruption.

Mishra, on Monday, took to Twitter and posted: “According to Kejriwal, 2G scam, coalgate scam and controversies over the Commonwealth Games are not scams at all”.

Meanwhile, Swaraj India national convenor Yogendra Yadav admonished Mishra on Monday and suggested him to restrain from holding press conferences on a daily basis.