The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia to join the probe in the excise policy scam at its Headquarters here on Monday by 11 am. The investigating agency has made Sisodia the accused number one in its FIR.

Soon after receiving the summons, Sisodia took to Twitter to criticise the agency.

“They conducted 14 hours raid at my house, they didn’t find anything. They searched my locker nothing was found from there too. They went to my village but returned empty handed. Now they have called me to join the investigation. I will go to the CBI’s headquarters to record my statement. I will be there by 11 am. I will cooperate,” Sisodia tweeted.

After Sisodia said that he has been summoned by the CBI on Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal compared the Delhi deputy chief minister with freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and termed this as the “second fight for freedom”.

“Prison bars and the threat of noose could never deter the spirit of Bhagat Singh. This is the second fight for freedom. Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain are today’s Bhagat Singh,” the chief minister said, retweeting Sisodia’s tweet about the CBI’s summons in the excise policy case.

“After 75 years, there has been an education minister who is giving hope to the poor with better education. The prayers of crores of people are with you,” Kejriwal further said in the same tweet.

Meanwhile, while addressing a press briefing, AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said that the probe agency will arrest the Deputy CM on Monday. “Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia has been summoned by the CBI for interrogation tomorrow. I can say this with confidence and responsibility that we are all certain that he will be arrested at the behest of the BJP by the CBI being controlled by their Central Government,” he said.

“CBI has summoned Manish Sisodia tomorrow. This whole conspiracy is premeditated and planned; CBI summon has nothing to do with excise, they will call him to their office and arrest him. CBI-ED have raided 500 locations across the country so far in the case; they haven’t found a single strand of proof,” he alleged.

“The CBI will be arresting Sisodia just to halt the month-long campaigns he has scheduled in Gujarat. But I want to make it clear to the BJP — the AAP stands here in front of you unfazed by your tactics,” the AAP spokesperson further said.

The FIR was lodged under sections 120-B (Criminal Conspiracy) and 477-A (Falsification of accounts) of the IPC. The allegation against Sisodia is that liquor businessmen were allegedly given an exemption of Rs 30 crore. The licence holders were allegedly given extension according to their own will. New policy rules were made by violating the excise rules.

It also said that Sisodia and a few liquor barons were actively involved in managing and diverting the undue pecuniary advantage collected from the liquor licensees to the public servants, who also have been accused in the case.

According to the sources, the FIR said, “Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Arva Gopi Krishna, the then Commissioner (Excise), Anand Tiwari, the then Deputy Commissioner (Excise), and Pankaj Bhatnagar, Assistant Commissioner (Excise) were instrumental in recommending and taking decisions pertaining to the excise policy for the year 2021-22 without approval of competent authority with an intention to extend undue favours to the licensee post tender.”

The CBI has so far made two arrests in the case. Last Monday, the agency arrested Hyderabad-based Abhishek Boinpally in the case. Boinpally’s name cropped up during the course of the investigation. He was called to join the investigation in Delhi, but he was not cooperating in the questioning and was allegedly trying to mislead the CBI.

Boinpally was not named in the FIR, said the source.

Vijay Nair, the Jor Bagh-based businessman in Delhi, was the first one to be arrested by the CBI. Later, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Sameer Mahendru, who is an alleged associate of Nair.