Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal arrested in liquor graft case

India’s financial crime agency arrested Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi on Thursday, in connection with graft allegations relating to the city’s liquor policy, his party said, a setback for the opposition ahead of elections.

The arrest means the main leaders of the decade-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are in jail, following the arrests last year of two of Kejriwal’s deputies in the same case — which the party has called “dirty politics.”

Delhi CM and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Excise policy case: Sources pic.twitter.com/LaSlephh0v

— ANI (@ANI) March 21, 2024

The agency, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), is investigating allegations that a liquor policy implemented by the Delhi government in 2022, which ended its control over sale of liquor in the capital, gave undue advantages to private retailers. The policy was subsequently withdrawn.

Atishi, an AAP lawmaker from Delhi, said on social media that the party was seeking to quash the latest arrest.

“We have received news that the Enforcement Directorate has arrested Arvind Kejriwal,” Delhi education minister Atishi Marlena Singh told reporters, referring to India’s main financial crimes investigation agency.