The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested Hyderabad-based businessman Abhishek Boinpally for his alleged involvement in the framing and execution of the Delhi excise policy that has since been scrapped after corruption charges were levelled against Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and others, including private players.

CBI sources said Boinpally was called for interrogation on Sunday and was arrested late last night owing to his refusal to share information on the involvement of liquor distributors from the South. It is suspected that a businessman having links with the ruling dispensation in Hyderabad was a beneficiary of the rigging of the excise policy that benefited a few players.

The CBI will seek his remand for custodial interrogation from a city court. He is the second person from the South arrested in the excise scam case after AAP leader and former CEO of the event management company Only Much Louder, Vijay Nair.

Actions taken by ED

The Enforcement Directorate is also conducting a parallel money laundering probe in the excise policy case and on October 7, carried out a second round of searches at nearly three dozen locations in Delhi and Punjab. Prior to that, the ED had picked up Sameer Mahendru, MD of Delhi-based liquor distributor Indospirit Group.

Besides Sisodia who is also the excise minister, other Delhi Government officials booked by the CBI are former Excise Commissioner Arva Gopi Krishna, former Deputy Commissioner Anand Tiwari, and Assistant Commissioner Pankaj Bhatnagar.

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