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Arvind Kejriwal Questioned For Nearly Nine Hours By CBI In Delhi Excise Policy Case

The AAP chief, who arrived at the heavily fortified agency headquarters at around 11 am in his official black SUV, was taken to the first-floor office of the Anti Corruption Branch where he was quizzed by the investigation team

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal
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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was questioned by the CBI on Sunday for nearly nine hours in connection with the excise policy scam case, officials said.

The AAP chief, who arrived at the heavily fortified agency headquarters at around 11 am in his official black SUV, was taken to the first-floor office of the Anti Corruption Branch where he was quizzed by the investigation team, they said.

 "The CBI asked me a total of 56 questions. Everything is fake. The case is fake. I am convinced they don't have anything on us, not a single piece of evidence," Mr Kejriwal told reporters, according to a report by NDTV.

Kejriwal waved to the waiting mediapersons as he left the building at around 8.30 pm after nearly nine hours of questioning.

Earlier on Friday, the CBI issued a summon to Kejriwal to appear before it on Sunday. The AAP termed the summon a "conspiracy to arrest Kejriwal". Former Delhi Deputy CM and AAP leader Manish Sisodia is already jailed in the case. He held the excise portfolio in the Delhi Cabinet at the time when alleged irregularities happened in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.

Sisodia was arrested on February 26 after nearly eight hours of questioning in the case with officials saying his answers were not satisfactory.  He later quit as deputy chief minister of Delhi.

Senior officials of the agency remained present in the office on Sunday to keep an eye on the development, a normal course whenever a VIP comes to the agency, they said.

The Aam Aadmi Party held protests in many areas against the CBI's summons to Kejriwal and several top leaders were detained by police. As the police dragged the detainees, MP Raghav Chadha was quoted saying to the media that the situation was like being under a dictatorship.

(With inputs from PTI)