New Delhi:

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the present day arrested Vijay Nair, an aide of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and communications chief of the Aam Aadmi Get together (AAP), for an alleged rip-off within the since-withdrawn liquor coverage of Arvind Kejriwal’s authorities. Vijay Nair is certainly one of 15 individuals, together with Mr Sisodia, named within the FIR.

He was overseas for a while — he’d denied allegations of getting “run away” — and was known as for questioning on the CBI workplace on Tuesday, after which he was arrested for an alleged position in “cartelisation” and “conspiracy” in allocation of liquor licences. 

The get together mentioned after his arrest that he “has nothing to do with excise coverage” and that the case is “baseless”.

“Vijay Nair is communication in-charge of AAP. He was chargeable for growing and implementing communication methods in Punjab earlier and Gujarat now,” the get together assertion learn. It mentioned the arrest is “a part of BJP’s ongoing try to crush AAP and hinder AAP’s Gujarat marketing campaign”.

The CBI has alleged that bribes from a liquor agency proprietor have been collected by Vijay Nair, whom it described as the previous CEO of Solely A lot Louder, an leisure and occasion administration firm based mostly in Mumbai. 

The AAP claimed, “He was known as for questioning previous few days and was pressurised to take the identify of Manish Sisodia. When he refused to try this, he was threatened that he could be arrested. His home was raided twice in final one month however nothing was discovered.”

Vijay Nair, 38, has been related to AAP for some time, The Print lately reported: “A university dropout, he got here into prominence within the early 2000s as a band supervisor for high indie music acts like Pentagram, and in addition based the occasion administration firm OML, finest recognized for organising stay music festivals and ultimately comedy collectives like AIB,” the report mentioned.

The AAP has described the case as politically motivated and claimed the BJP authorities is afraid of Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal’s “emergence as a nationwide various to Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.

It was in July that Delhi Lieutenant Governor ordered a probe into the New Excise Coverage. That very same month, the AAP authorities authorities withdrew the coverage, which had come into pressure in November final 12 months and introduced personal gamers into liquor commerce. The AAP mentioned the coverage was for extra income “however scuttled by the BJP’s central authorities utilizing the Lieutenant Governor“.

The BJP says kickbacks have been taken for contracts.