Aam Aadmi Party Minister Atishi criticised the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday for allegedly threatening witnesses to testify against AAP leaders so that charges could be filed against them.
“ED coercing, threatening people to give false statements against AAP leaders in excise policy case,” Atishi told reporters. “ED raids on AAP leaders are being carried out to silence the party.”
Atishi said that the ED “deleted” audio recordings of witness statements and urged the agency to make them public. “For the past two years, AAP leaders have been threatened. Someone’s home is raided, a summons is issued, and someone is arrested in the name of this alleged liquor fraud. Even after hundreds of raids in two years, the ED has not recovered a single cent. Even after two years, the ED has not found any specific evidence, and the court has repeatedly requested that evidence be submitted,” she stated.
The statements come less than a day after the AAP minister announced that she will expose the central agency on Tuesday at 10 a.m. Following this, the ED conducted raids on the homes of AAP Rajya Sabha MP N.D. Gupta, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Personal Secretary Bibhav Kumar, former Delhi Jal Board member Shalabh Kumar, and other party members. Read about the ED’s Tuesday searches in Delhi here.