New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reacting to the summons being served by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), charged that the central agencies gave false testaments in order to mislead the court. He also accused the ruling BJP of using the central agencies to destroy the ray of hope the AAP has given to the people.
The AAP chief has been called to appear on Sunday before the CBI for questioning in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy case. Responding to the allegations raised by the BJP that Manish Sisodia had destroyed mobile phones in his possession to defend him, Kejriwal said that out of the 14 phones that are said to be in possession of Manish Sisodia, four of them are with ED, one with CBI.
"The seizure memo shows that out of these 14 phones, four are with the ED and one with the CBI. Most of the other phones are alive and are being used by volunteers. The ED and the CBI know about these phones. They are misleading the court by filing false affidavits," he alleged.
Kejriwal assured that all the phones are in working condition and in the possession of party workers. The AAP chief also claimed that the central agencies are engaging in physical torture and mental harassment to file statements in order to get to AAP leaders.
Kejriwal said that he can cite medical reports of at least five such instances where witnessed had to face physical abuse following which they withdrew their statements. "People are being asked to falsely take my name and Sisodia's name. One Chandan Reddy, whom we are not acquainted with, was tortured and his medical report says he suffered trauma to his ears and face. These people are using third degree, mental harassment and physical torture to extract false statements.
Also read: Excise policy case: CBI summons Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on April 16
"Sameer Mahendru and Arun Pillai have been tortured. One person, who has two young daughters, was asked, 'How will your daughter go to college tomorrow?' Another one was quizzed, while his wife and father were made to sit in another room and he was threatened that they would be sent to jail," he claimed.
Speaking about the proceeds of crime, Kejriwal said that though the agencies have alleged misappropriation of 100 crores, not a penny has been traced so far despite dozens of raids. The AAP chief also said that his former deputy, Manish Sisodia was arrested just to get to him. The Delhi CM spoke on the dismal performance of the BJP government in education during its tenure. "No party has been targeted like AAP in the last 75 years. We have given hope to people about good education. They want to end that hope," Kejriwal alleged.
Kejriwal spoke highly of the controversial liquor policy saying that the AAP-government drafted policy has led to a 50 percent increase in revenue in Punjab. The Delhi CM said that the day he spoke against corruption in the Delhi Assembly, he knew that he would be the next in line to be summoned by the investigating agencies. He said that he is going to abide by the CBI summon and will go to its office on Sunday.
