New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday questioned former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia's aide Devender Sharma in the Delhi liquor policy case, officials said. This comes after the Enforcement Directorate on Monday arrested Hyderabad-based liquor businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai in the liquor policy case.
The ED also recorded Sisodia's statement in the matter under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Tuesday at Tihar jail. The former Delhi excise minister is currently lodged at Tihar after the Special Court on Monday sent him into judicial custody till March 20. The CBI had earlier arrested Sisodia on February 26.
Also read: Manish Sisodia sent to jail, Court allows Gita, specs, pen and notebook
The Rouse Avenue court on Monday permitted Sisodia to have his spectacles, diary, pen, and his prescribed medicines during his stay in custody. The court also directed the jail officials to consider his request for allocating him to the Meditation cell during his stay at Tihar. The court will hear his bail petition on Friday. His appeal to the Supreme Court was rejected earlier when the court directed him to go for alternate remedial measures available to him.
Sisodia's arrest has become a bone of contention between the Kejriwal government and the BJP at the center. In his video message before Holi Kejriwal said that he will be praying for his former deputy during the auspicious day. He also urged countrymen to pray for him after their celebrations if they feel that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is wrong in misusing central agencies to harass Opposition leaders like Sisodia. He also lauded Sisodia for his commendable work in the fields of education and health in the national capital, something that was left untouched for 75 years even after independence, Kejriwal claimed.
