Delhi excise case: ED attaches over Rs 52-crore worth assets of Manish Sisodia, wife, others
New Delhi, Jul 7: The Enforcement Directorate Friday said it has attached two immovable assets of arrested AAP leader Manish Sisodia and his wife apart from bank deposits worth Rs 11.49 lakh of the ex-deputy chief minister in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case.
The probe agency has issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach assets worth Rs 52.24 of the Sisodia couple and some other accused being probed in this case.
Two immovable properties of Manish Sisodia and his wife Seema Sisodia and a land/flat of arrested accused Rajesh Joshi -- the director of Chariot Productions Media Pvt Ltd -- have been attached, the ED said. It also attached a land/flat of Gautam Malhotra, a Punjab-based liquor businessman and son of former SAD MLA Deep Malhotra.
Gautam Malhotra was arrested by the ED in the case earlier.
Movable assets worth Rs 44.29 crore were also attached as part of the same order. These included Manish Sisodia's bank balances worth Rs 11.49 lakh apart from Rs 16.45 crore worth of deposits of a company Brindco Sales Pvt. Ltd. and others, the agency said in a statement.
Brindco Sales Pvt. Ltd. is a company of liquor businessman Amandeep Singh Dhall who was also arrested in this case by the ED.
Sisodia, 51, was arrested by the agency in this case in March and is currently in judicial custody.
This is the second attachment in this case after the ED a few months ago attached properties worth Rs 76.54 crore of other accused such as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communications in-charge Vijay Nair, liquor businessman and promoter of Indospirits company Sameer Mahandru, promoter of liquor company Buddy Retail Pvt Ltd. Amit Arora, Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Pillai and others.
The ED had said in its chargesheet filed before a local court a few months ago that the Delhi excise policy 2021-22 was brought in by the AAP leadership, specifically by Manish Sisodia, to "continuously generate and channel illegal funds" to themselves.
It is alleged by the ED and the CBI that the policy to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP.
The policy was subsequently scrapped and the Delhi lieutenant governor recommended a CBI probe, following which the ED registered a case under the PMLA.
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Mumbai-Pune Expressway ‘missing link’ to open on May 1; will improve travel safety: Shinde
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday said the long-awaited ‘missing link’ on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, aimed at bypassing the winding Bhor Ghat section and improving safety, will be inaugurated on May 1.
Shinde, who inspected the project site, said the new stretch will make the expressway fully access-controlled, easing congestion in the hilly section.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is likely to inaugurate the 13.3-km-long missing link, which connects Khopoli on the Mumbai side to Kusgaon near Lonavala, on Maharashtra Day, which is celebrated on May 1, he said.
The deputy CM said that 99 per cent of the project work has been completed. “I personally inspected the quality of work and found it satisfactory. The remaining minor works will be completed in the next few days,” Shinde said.
Shinde said the new alignment will bypass sharp curves and accident-prone stretches in the ghat section, helping reduce delays and improve commuter safety. He claimed accidents in the section would reduce substantially once the project becomes operational.
“The missing link project will make travel between Mumbai and Pune quicker, safer and more convenient, and will contribute significantly to the state’s development,” he said.
The Rs 6,700-crore project, developed by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), includes two tunnels, high viaducts and a cable-stayed bridge over Tiger Valley.
The missing link will reduce the travel distance between Mumbai and Pune by approximately 6 km and shorten the journey time by 20 to 30 minutes, said officials.
Initially, only light motor vehicles and buses will be permitted on the new stretch to reduce congestion on the existing ghat section, officials said, adding that heavy goods vehicles will be prohibited due to safety concerns.
“There will be no toll hike because of the missing link project. No increase has been proposed at the Khalapur toll plaza either,” Shinde said.
The project comprises two eight-lane tunnels of 1.75 km and 8.92 km in length and two viaducts measuring 850 metres and 650 metres, said officials. It has been designed to bypass the old Khandala ghat section, a winding route that has long slowed down traffic and posed safety risks, said officials.
The 650-metre viaduct will feature what officials described as India’s tallest road cable-stayed bridge, with pylons rising to 182 metres, taller than those on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.
Officials claimed that the tunnels have a width of 23.75 metres and are among the widest road tunnels in the world. An MSRDC official said the tunnel is likely to be included in the Guinness Book of Records.
The route runs beneath the Lonavala lake area and was executed in difficult terrain marked by heavy rainfall and strong winds, officials said.
Shinde said projects such as the missing link would boost access to tourist destinations such as Lohagad Fort, Visapur Fort and Karla Caves.
MP Shrirang Barne, former corporator Abasaheb Bagul, MSRDC Managing Director Anilkumar Gaikwad and senior engineers from executing agencies were present during the inspection, officials said.
Krishnamurthy Subramanian, executive chairman of construction and engineering company Afcons International Private Limited, said the journey to completion of “India’s highest road cable-stayed bridge” was challenging.
“The bridge, located in the Sahyadri region, presented extreme challenges, including narrow ridges that left little room for heavy machinery, sudden wind speeds reaching up to 100 kmph, and dense fog reducing visibility to a few metres. Despite these conditions, we are proud to deliver this engineering marvel,” he said.
The expressway, spanning approximately 95 km, holds the distinction of being India's first access-controlled highway.
