On Monday, 27 February, the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi sent Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia to CBI custody until 4 March in connection with the alleged liquor excise policy scam. The news of his arrest prompted intense protests from AAP workers.

The CBI interrogated Sisodia for more than seven hours on Sunday before placing him under custody. To this, Delhi’s Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal commented: “I’m told there was no evidence to arrest Manish but the political necessity to detain him was so strong that they had to obey their political superiors.”

In response to the arrest of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who was taken into custody by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) due to alleged irregularities regarding his involvement in the now-scrapped excise policy, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) held a protest at DDU Marg on Monday. Large numbers of AAP supporters gathered near BJP headquarters at DDU Marg, but were eventually dispersed by police personnel. At the beginning of the day, Delhi Minister Gopal Rai had urged for a mass protest outside BJP’s national office in Delhi.

“AAP will mark this as Black Day with protests all over India against Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia’s arrest. We will be having a protest outside BJP’s national office in Delhi,” said Rai on Twitter.

Delhi Police and paramilitary forces were deployed, and multi-layered security was set up around CBI headquarters, AAP and BJP offices due to the call for an extensive demonstration against Sisodia’s arrest. CBI Special Court allowed five days of custody to Sisodia and he is slated to appear on March 4th.

Gopal Rai expressed his belief during a press conference that this wasn’t an investigation concerning any kind of scandal but instead it was being carried out due to political rivalry. “CBI asked for 5 days remand for Manish Sisodia from Court, yet after searching through his office, home and village they found nothing,” stated Rai. “The agency won’t find anything even after five days either because this isn’t an investigation about any kind of scam—it is being conducted because of political rivalry.”

The Central Bureau of Investigation, upon arresting Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for involvement in the Delhi liquor scam, stated that he had been uncooperative during the investigation. The agency stated that “the arrested accused will be produced before the designated court in Delhi”. They had sought answers from Sisodia regarding changes made to the excise policy draft under his guidance. Sources close to the CBI told India Today that provisions which were not part of the first draft of the policy were included in the final one. The CBI is using a statement provided by an excise department official, alleging Sisodia’s involvement in including those provisions in the policy’s final draft, to further their case against him. @ Aditya