Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate following extensive raids at his Delhi residence on Wednesday. The ED has arrested the senior AAP leader in connection with a money laundering probe into the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam case.

According to ED sleuths, Singh played a key role in the formulation of the now scrapped Delhi liquor policy which benefitted certain manufacturers and vendors. It was Sanjay Singh, according to ED, who introduced jailed former Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia to Dinesh Arora, key accused turned witness.

Following Sanjay Singh’s arrest, the Aam Aadmi Party came down heavily on the Narendra Modi government and accused it of vendetta politics. AAP leader and MP, Raghav Chadha, said that the BJP is frustrated and doing it out of fear as the saffron party has sensed defeat in the upcoming elections.

“…It is a frustrated BJP which is going to lose upcoming elections so they are doing it out of fear,” Chadha was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

He repeated his party’s claim that central probe agencies like the ED and CBI have conducted as many as 1000 raids in the last 15 months but not a single penny was found.

“ED hasn’t found a single penny…they didn’t find any proof because when there is no scam what would be found,” he added.

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor, Arvind Kejriwal termed Sanjay Singh’s arrest “illegal” and claimed that many more Opposition leaders will be arrested.

“The arrest of Sanjay Singh is completely illegal. This shows Modi Ji’s desperation. They will arrest many more opposition leaders…,” he wrote in a post on X.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Health Minister Sourabh Bharadwaj said that the ED raids on Sanjay Singh were being conducted because he asked questions to Prime Minister Modi.

Earlier in April this year, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was also questioned by the central probe agency for nine hours in connection with the same case. Last week, a CBI inquiry was also initiated against CM Kejriwal over alleged irregularities in the construction and renovation of his new official Civil Lines residence.

Meanwhile, the BJP has defended the action and rejected the political vendetta claims. BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that if someone indulge in wrongdoings he will have to go to jail.

“ED has arrested Sanjay Singh. AAP is now saying that it is a political vendetta and that they knew it beforehand. You had to know beforehand…When you were distributing money and collecting Crores of Rupees, you had to go to jail. You will have to give an account for it. They are now trying to gain the sympathy of people – that you are innocent. You have always lied…Arvind Kejriwal, you too will have to give an account for it…” Sirsa said.