ED case against Sanjay Singh based on approver's call records, statement

New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh was part of the conspiracy of collecting kickbacks from the liquor groups in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy, a charge Singh has denied in court and outside of it too.

Singh has termed all the charges against him as false.

The agency alleged that Sanjay Singh has had a close relationship with one of the accused Dinesh Arora since 2017. Arora has turned an approver in the case, though Singh has termed his approver statement bogus.

The ED told the court during remand proceedings that the contact between Arora and Singh came to light not only from Arora’s statement but also from his call records.

The ED alleged that Sanjay Singh's associates/staff/team members namely- Vivek Tyagi, Ajit Tyagi and Sarvesh Mishra also had a close relationship with Dinesh Arora.

It was Dinesh Arora who introduced Amit Arora, another accused in the case and his other friends to Sanjay Singh. The agency also informed the court that Dinesh Arora had been regularly visiting Singh at his residence and even numerous calls were exchanged between them.

The ED stated that as per its probe Dinesh Arora collected Rs 3 crore bribe from the prime accused Sameer Mahandru during August- October 2021, on the directions of Vijay Nair as he was allegedly facilitating the granting of Pernod's wholesale business to Sameer's entity.

The agency alleged that out of the amount of 3 crore collected by Arora, Rs 1 crore was given to Singh’s alleged associate Sarvesh Mishra on the directions of Vijay Nair. This amount was delivered to Singh's house by an employee of Dinesh Arora. Similarly, another payment of Rs 1 crore was also made to Mishra.

The ED alleged that these payments were corroborated by call data records and the location of Dinesh Arora's employee, who communicated with Sarvesh Mishra, on the same day he visited Singh's house.

Singh is in ED custody for five days for questioning in the Arvind Kejriwal government's excise policy case.