ED, CBI... what next? Delhi CM sent to CBI custody, asserts he is innocent

New Delhi, NT Bureau: In mounting troubles for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the CBI on Wednesday arrested the AAP chief in a corruption case linked to the alleged excise scam.

He is already in judicial custody in connection with an ED money laundering case related to the same scam. A Delhi court later sent Kejriwal to three-day custody of the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) after the hearing of arguments on the probe agency's application during which he said he is innocent.

The chief minister, who also addressed the court in person, denied having given any statement putting the “entire blame” for the liquor policy scam on his close aide and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who is also an accused in the scam.

He claimed that the CBI is sensationalising the issue. The application seeking Kejriwal's arrest was moved by the CBI after he was produced before the court from Tihar central jail, where he was lodged in judicial custody in the money laundering case being probed by the Enforcement Directorate( ED).

Kejriwal was questioned by the CBI in Tihar jail on Tuesday. While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused the BJP of getting Kejriwal arrested in a "fake case" by the CBI, the party chief's wife Sunita Kejriwal alleged the whole system is trying to ensure that her husband does not come out of jail and that this is akin to "dictatorship" and "emergency".

Kejriwal will remain in the CBI custody for now, until his custodial interrogation in the corruption case comes to an end, which can go up to a maximum of 15 days.

If Kejriwal fails to secure bail in the corruption and money laundering cases, being probed by the CBI and ED respectively, he will go back to judicial custody once his police custody ends in the present case.

The Delhi court had on June 19 extended Kejriwal's judicial custody till July 3 in the ED's money laundering case. The AAP chief was arrested on March 21 by the ED. He was granted regular bail by the trial court on June 20 but the Delhi High Court on Tuesday stayed the bail order.

In between, he returned to Tihar jail on June 2 after the end of the interim bail that was granted to him by the Supreme Court to campaign in the elections. Kejriwal alleged that the entire plan of the probe agencies is to defame the AAP and its leaders in the media.

"It is being run in the media through CBI sources that I have given a statement putting my entire blame on Manish Sisodia. I have not give any such statement that Sisodia is guilty, or anyone else is guilty. I have said Sisodia is innocent, AAP is innocent, I am innocent. Their plan is to defame us. Please record that all these have been run in media through CBI sources," Kejriwal told the court.

AAP urges INDIA bloc leaders to raise arrest in parliament

The AAP alleged that central probe agencies are working with ill-will and political malice against its leaders at the BJP's instance, and said it will urge INDIA bloc leaders to raise the issue of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest in Parliament.

After the CBI formally arrested Kejriwal, his wife Sunita claimed that the entire system is trying to ensure that her husband does not come out of jail and that this is akin to "dictatorship" and "emergency".