The Enforcement Directorate arrested liquor businessman Sameer Mahendru in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy case.
Mr. Mahendru, the managing director of Indospirit Group, is one of the 15 accused in the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation against Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and others, alleging irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now-withdrawn Excise Policy.
The FIR alleged that Mr. Mahendru had transferred about ₹1 crore into the account of Radha Industries, which was managed by co-accused Dinesh Arora; another accused named Arun Ramchandra Pillai had received money from him for further transfer to a public servant via Vijay Nair, the former chief executive officer of Mumbai-based Only Much Louder. Mr. Nair was arrested by the CBI on Tuesday.
Another alleged conduit, Arjun Pandey had collected about ₹2-4 crore from Mr. Mahendru on behalf of Mr. Nair.
Following Mr. Nair’s arrest, the Aam Aadmi Party had alleged that he was pressurised to take Mr. Sisodia’s name when interrogated. When he refused, Mr. Nair was threatened with arrest.
“Vijay Nair is the communication in-charge of AAP. He was responsible for developing and implementing communication strategies in Punjab earlier and Gujarat now. He has nothing to do with the Excise Policy,” the statement said, adding that Mr. Nair’s house was raided twice in last one month but nothing was found.
