CBI makes another arrest in Delhi excise policy case
Oct 10, 2022
New Delhi [India], October 10 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a man in connection with the irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 for allegedly lobbying for a south India-based businessman, officials said on Monday.
Abhishek Boinpally, a resident of Hyderabad, was arrested after he did not cooperate with the central agency officials during questioning on Sunday evening, they said, adding that he will now be produced in a court.
On September 27, the CBI arrested businessman Vijay Nair, the former CEO of the event management company Only Much Louder.
In August, the CBI registered a case to probe an alleged scam in the framing and implementation of the excise policy and issued a Look-Out Circular (LOC) against eight people.
A total of nine people have been named as accused in the case. Except for Manoj Rai, a former vice president of Pernod Ricard, an LOC has been issued against all of them.
On October 7, the Enforcement Directorate carried out searches at nearly three dozen locations in Delhi and Punjab in connection with the case, days after it arrested Sameer Mahendru, managing director of Delhi's Jor Bagh-based liquor distributor Indospirit Group.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the then Excise Commissioner Arva Gopi Krishna, Deputy Commissioner Anand Tiwari and Assistant Commissioner Pankaj Bhatnagar have also been named in the case.
ED and CBI have alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy, including undue favours being extended to licence holders, the licence fee being waived or reduced and the L-1 licence being extended without the competent authority's approval. The beneficiaries were also alleged to have diverted "illegal" gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books to evade detection.
