CBI issues Look Out Circular against 8 accused named in Delhi excise policy FIR

India

pti-PTI

New
Delhi,
Aug
21:
The
CBI
Sunday
issued
Look
Out
Circulars
against
eight
private
persons
named
in
the
FIR
registered
in
the
Delhi
excise
policy
“scam”
case,
officials
said.
They
said
no
LoCs
have
been
opened
against
four
public
servants
named
in
the
FIR,
including
Delhi
Deputy
Chief
Minister
Manish
Sisodia
and
three
former
excise
department
officials.

Officials
said
the
CBI
has
not
felt
the
need
to
issue
LOCs
against
public
servants
so
far
because
they
cannot
leave
the
country
without
intimating
the
government.

The
agency
has
named
a
total
of
nine
private
individuals
as
accused
in
the
FIR
including
businessmen
Vijay
Nair,
a
former
CEO
of
entertainment
and
event
management
company
Only
Much
Louder;
Manoj
Rai,
a
former
employee
of
Pernod
Ricard;
Amandeep
Dhal,
owner
of
Brindco
Spirits;
Sameer
Mahendru,
MD
of
IndoSpirit,
and
Hyderabad-based
Arun
Ramchandra
Pillai.

No
LOC
has
been
issued
against
Manoj
Rai
so
far,
they
said.
Sisodia
had
earlier
claimed
a
lookout
notice
was
issued
against
him
in
the
excise
policy
case
being
probed
by
the
CBI
and
termed
the
move
a
“drama”.

Sisodia’s
three
“close
associates”
—
Amit
Arora,
Director
of
Buddy
Retail
Pvt.
Limited
in
Gurgaon,
Dinesh
Arora
and
Arjun
Pandey
—
have
also
been
named
in
the
FIR
as
accused.
Sisodia
is
among
15
individuals
and
entities
named
in
the
FIR
registered
by
the
CBI
in
connection
with
alleged
irregularities
in
the
implementation
of
the
Delhi
government’s
Excise
Policy
2021-22.

The
agency
on
Friday
carried
out
searches
at
31
places
including
Sisodia’s
residence
and
premises
of
some
bureaucrats
former
Excise
Commissioner
Arava
Gopi
Krishna
and
two
other
Excise
Department
officials
and
businessmen.
Under
the
CBI
scanner
are
at
least
two
payments
worth
crores
of
rupees
allegedly
made
to
“close
associates”
of
Sisodia
by
Mahendru
who
was
one
of
the
liquor
traders
actively
involved
in
alleged
irregularities.

The
FIR
alleged
Sisodia’s
“close
associates”
were
“actively
involved
in
managing
and
diverting
the
undue
pecuniary
advantage
collected
from
liquor
licensees”
to
the
accused
public
servants.
The
CBI
raids
on
Friday,
that
went
on
for
nearly
15
hours,
came
after
Lieutenant
Governor
Vinai
Kumar
Saxena
last
month
recommended
a
probe
by
the
agency
into
the
alleged
violations
of
rules
and
procedural
lapses
in
the
implementation
of
the
policy
that
came
into
effect
from
November
17
last
year.

The
Delhi
government
withdrew
the
policy
in
July
after
Saxena
recommended
the
probe.