New Delhi : In the aftermath of Arvind Kejriwal’s non-compliance with Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons, Delhi ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bhardwaj of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have claimed that the federal agency is likely to arrest the Delhi Chief Minister on Thursday.
Taking to the social media platform X, AAP leader and Delhi’s Law and PWD Minister, Atishi, stated, “News coming in that ED is going to raid @ArvindKejriwal’s residence tomorrow morning. Arrest likely.” She did not disclose the source of this information. Shortly thereafter, Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj also posted on X, speculating about Kejriwal’s imminent arrest by the ED. “It is heard that tomorrow morning, ED is going to reach the house of Chief Minister Kejriwal and arrest him,” stated Bharadwaj in his post. In response to these speculations, heightened security has been observed outside Kejriwal’s residence in Delhi.
This development follows Kejriwal’s decision on Wednesday to skip the ED summons, citing reasons such as Rajya Sabha polls, Republic Day preparations, and the probe agency’s “non-disclosure and non-response approach.” In a letter addressed to the Enforcement Directorate, Kejriwal expressed his willingness to answer any questionnaire sent by the agency, requesting clarification on the “real intent, ambit, nature, sweep, and scope of the purported inquiry/investigation.”
The AAP alleges that the summons itself was issued with the intention to arrest Kejriwal. This marks the third summons, with the two previous ones issued on November 2 and December 21, both of which were ignored by the Delhi Chief Minister.
The party also asserts that the roads leading to Kejriwal’s residence were blocked, and police personnel were deployed at all entry/exit gates. An AAP source claimed, “The roads leading to the CM house have been shut, and police personnel are deployed at all the entry/exit gates. Even the staff deployed at the CM house has been stopped from entering.”
Contrary to these claims, the Delhi Police stated that the increased security around the CM house aimed to “manage” media personnel gathering since Wednesday, following AAP leaders’ assertions that Kejriwal would be raided and arrested. Another police officer dismissed the idea of staff being stopped, terming the increased police presence as “general deployment.”
