Unaware of accused Nair’s stay in my residence or Goa links: Gahlot
Emerging out after 5 hrs of grilling, min rules out possibility of scam
Delhi minister Kailash Gahlot on Saturday said he has told the Enforcement Directorate that he had no information that Vijay Nair, the communications in-charge of AAP arrested earlier in the excise policy-linked money laundering case, was living in the government bungalow allotted to him.
The minister, who was speaking after being questioned for nearly five hours by the ED which had arrested Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on March 21, asserted that there was no “scam” and that it would become clearer with time.
Gahlot also told reporters that he has no knowledge about Aam Aadmi Party’s activities in Goa.
The AAP leader said he answered all the questions from the agency and will continue to cooperate in the probe.
Sources said Gahlot was questioned with regard to the formulation of the excise policy for 2021-22 as he was part of the Group of Ministers (GoM), along with former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and former urban development minister Satyendar Jain.
Gahlot entered the ED office in central Delhi around 11:30 am and left after 4:30 pm. The agency has mentioned Gahlot’s name in its charge sheet and in the context of Vijay Nair living in the government bungalow allotted to Gahlot. Describing the practice of allowing the use of a government residence to someone else by a public servant as a “criminal breach of trust”, the ED had said it had asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take action in the matter.
It is alleged that the money from the alleged Delhi excise policy scam was spent by AAP in the Assembly polls in the coastal state.