As AAP raises alarm that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing the Delhi Excise Policy case may arrest Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday, the chief minister hit out at the federal agency, stating that the summons sent to him was "false".
"I've explained to ED why their summons is illegal, they have no answer to it," Kejriwal told reporters amid reports that the ED may sent him another summons. The agency had already sent Kejriwal three summons, all of which he decided to skip.
He reiterated that the BJP wanted to arrest him on the pretext of investigation. "The BJP wants to arrest me. My biggest asset is my honesty and they want to dent it. My lawyers have told me that summons sent to me are illegal. BJP's aim is not to probe me, but not to let me campaign for Lok Sabha elections. They want to call me on the pretext of investigation and then arrest me," he added.
The chief minister said all cases against him were false, calliing the ED probe 'open gundagardi'. He said there was no corruption. "For the last two years, you have heard the words 'sharab ghotala' several times. There have been multiple raids in connection. Agencies didn't find a single rupee. Where did the money go? Did it just vanish in the air? The truth is there has been no corruption," he added,
He said many AAP leaders have been falsely implicated in this connection and were languishing in jail while there is no evidence against them. He was referring to Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh who were arrested by the ED in the case and in judicial custody.
Deciding to skip Ed summons, Kejriwal cited Rajya Sabha polls, Republic Day preparations and the probe agency's "non-disclosure and non-response approach" as reasons for not appearing before it. He also said he would be "happy to answer" any questionnaire sent by it.
However, the BJP accused him of "running away" from a probe. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said, "Aam Aadmi Party leaders are making noises that their CM may get arrested anytime... They have committed theft, and corruption and now they are creating a ruckus."
"The investigating agency has given you a chance to testify, but you are running away and behaving like a fugitive," Sachdeva added.
