Arvind Kejriwal held In Liquor Policy Case

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the alleged liquor policy scam.

The probe agency was probing the money laundering angle in the case, reports NDTV.

Mr Kejriwal has become the first serving chief minister to be arrested in the history of Independent India and his party has said he will continue to hold the post.

Speaking from outside the chief minister's residence on Thursday, Delhi minister Atishi said, "We are getting reports that the Enforcement Directorate has arrested Mr Kejriwal. His arrest is a conspiracy by the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Since the investigation of this case began two years ago, not one rupee has been recovered by the ED or the CBI despite over 1,000 raids on AAP leaders and ministers."

"Arvind Kejriwal's arrest after the announcement of the Lok Sabha election is a conspiracy. Mr Kejriwal is not just a man, he is a thought. If you think arresting one Kejriwal can finish off the thought, you are wrong. Mr Kejriwal is, was and will remain the Delhi chief minister. We have said from the beginning that he will run the government from jail if need be. No law stops him from doing so," she said in Hindi.

Pointing out that Mr Kejriwal has not been convicted, Ms Atishi said the fight will go on and the party has approached the Supreme Court against his arrest. “Our lawyers are going to the court for urgent mentioning. We will demand that the case be heard tonight itself,” she said.

An ED team, consisting of 12 officials, reached Mr Kejriwal's residence with a search warrant on Thursday evening and questioned him before his eventual arrest. His and his wife's phones were confiscated and data was transferred from two tablets and a laptop at his home.

As the ED officials carried out their questioning inside the residence, Delhi Police and Rapid Action Force personnel as well as CRPF teams were deployed outside. Prohibitory orders were imposed in the area outside the residence and several AAP workers, who had gathered to protest Mr Kejriwal's arrest, were detained.

The Delhi chief minister's arrest comes less than a week after BRS leader K Kavitha was taken into custody in the liquor policy case. After her arrest, Mr Kejriwal was, for the first time, named as a conspirator in the case.