Mr. Chandan also submitted a medical report which supports his claim of hearing loss.
Hyderabad:
Serious allegations of atrocities and obtaining statements under force majeure have been leveled against the Enforcement Directorate by a person questioned by the investigating agency in the alleged Delhi liquor scam case.
Arla Chandan, who oversees the retail liquor business of Trident Kemfer Ltd, today withdrew his statement to the ED saying he was forced out.
“I have complete hearing loss in one ear and partial hearing loss in the other ear. This is entirely attributable to the severe beating and violence meted out to me by the Enforcement Directorate officials for extracting false statements and signing me. In his letter to the ED and its top officials, he said, “Paper and sign paper and state something which is contrary to facts”.
Mr. Chandan also submitted a medical report which supports his claim of hearing loss.
He said he joined Aurobindo Realty & Infrastructure Pvt Ltd in 2021 as Vice President (Corporate Relations) and was later posted in Delhi to oversee the retail liquor business operations of Trident Chamfer Ltd, a company under the same management.
“The whole operation went on for about seven months, at the end of which the liquor policy under which the contract was awarded to the company was cancelled. From the newspapers I came to know that an FIR was registered by the CBI and some irregularities in the said was investigating. Policy, which is probably now being probed by the Enforcement Directorate as well,” his letter said.
Mr Chandan withdrew all statements, admissions or signatures obtained by the ED on September 16, the day ED officials visited his home by the time of his release the next day, claiming that he was “under coercion, coercion and intimidation”. was obtained by means of bodily injury”.
He also said that he did not remember completely what he said during the interrogation.
“I am unable to fully recall the other answers given in the statement under pressure at this point, as I am slowly recovering from the mental trauma and suffering suffered by the ED authorities by the time of my release on 16.09.2022, “The letter states.
Arla Chandan further said that she is “ready and willing” to cooperate with any investigation, but requested that all inquiries be conducted in the presence of her lawyer, if necessary.
The ED had yesterday claimed that a bribe of Rs 100 crore was paid for favors related to the now defunct Delhi Liquor Sale Policy, in which Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is an accused.
He also claimed that he found that over three dozen VIPs, including Mr Sisodia, allegedly exchanged over 140 mobile phones to destroy digital evidence.
The Enforcement Directorate’s claim came after it arrested two officials of two private companies on Thursday in a case related to the liquor sale policy.
The two arrested were Benoy Babu, general manager of liquor company Pernod Ricard, and P Sarath Chandra Reddy, whole-time director and promoter of Aurobindo Pharma.
The Enforcement Directorate’s money laundering case stems from a CBI FIR in which Manish Sisodia was named as an accused.
The excise scheme came under scrutiny after the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi recommended a CBI inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22. The Lt Governor had also suspended 11 excise officials.
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