In response to a petition challenging the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) submitted its reply to the Delhi High Court on Tuesday. The ED stated that upon tracing the money trail backwards, it discovered multiple routes through which the funds were transferred.
According to the ED affidavit, statements from individuals such as Ashok Patel, Kiran Bhai Patel, and Jagdish Sharma unveiled various channels used to transfer the money to Goa. These included approximately Rs 12 crore from Ashok Chandu Bhai of Asheel Corporation, Rs 7.1 crore from Devang Solanki of KS Enterprise, Rs 16 crore from Kirti Amba Lal, Rs 7.5 crore from Neelkanth, and Rs 2 crore from Ma Ambey.
The ED asserted that statements from individuals associated with these Angadiya firms corroborated these findings. Furthermore, they disclosed the sources of these funds. For instance, Ashok Chandu Bhai received funds from Rajesh Joshi and Damodar Prasad Sharma of Chariot Productions Media Private Limited.
Devang Solanki also confirmed receiving funds from Arvind Singh, who at the time served as the production controller-cum-commercial head at India Ahead news channel, co-owned by Abhishek Boinpally of the South Group. The ED highlighted Arvind Singh's communication with Solanki, Chanpreet Singh, and Prince Kumar based on call detail records (CDRs).
Additionally, the ED mentioned that Kirti Amba Lal, Neelkanth, and Ma Ambey received funds from Chandan Kumar Tripathi, who confirmed receiving a total of Rs 25.5 crore from Ashish Mathur and Tara Singh for onward transfer to Goa. Investigations revealed that Mathur and Singh were associated with Vinod Chauban, whose CDR showed connections with individuals like Ashok Kaushik, private secretary of BRS MLC K. Kavitha, among others.
According to the ED, Kaushik admitted to being introduced to Boinpally in 2020, leading to a job at India Ahead news channel. He also confessed to collecting cash on Boinpally's instructions and delivering it to Vinod Chauhan.
The ED described Chief Minister Kejriwal as the central figure and primary conspirator in the alleged excise policy scam, implicating other Delhi government ministers, AAP leaders, and individuals.
Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 following over two hours of questioning at his official residence. The ED claimed that during interrogation, Kejriwal was presented with evidence of hawala transfers totaling approximately Rs 45 crore, supported by CDR locations, call records, data seized from a hawala firm in Goa, and WhatsApp messages.
Despite the evidence presented, Kejriwal allegedly claimed ignorance, even though the funds were traced to the AAP, of which he is the leader. Witnesses who participated in the AAP campaign in Goa reportedly received cash from Chanpreet Singh, who facilitated hawala transactions amounting to Rs 45 crore and received direct payments from the AAP into his bank account.
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