‘Didn’t expect so soon…was sitting with parents’: Kejriwal on his arrest by ED

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said he was in the company of his parents when the Enforcement Directorate officials arrived at his residence to arrest him in a money laundering probe linked to a now-scrapped excise policy case. Speaking to India Today, Kejriwal said he was not expecting the arrest so soon and thought the ED would wait for at least two to three days.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo was arrested Thursday evening, hours after the Delhi high court refused to grant him interim protection from coercive action.
“I was not expecting it. I did not think ED would come to arrest me so soon. I thought they would wait at least 2-3 days before arresting me,” India Today quoted Kejriwal as saying.
Narrating the circumstances of his arrest, the 55-year-old leader said, “I did not get a chance to take blessings from my parents before ED took me away. I was sitting with my parents before the ED came,” according to the report.
Kejriwal reportedly said that the ED officials “behaved well and with respect”.
A court sent the AAP chief to seven-day custody of the probe agency, a day after his dramatic arrest.
Seeking a 10-day custody of Kejriwal, the Enforcement Directorate claimed Arvind Kejriwal is the “kingpin and key conspirator” in the excise policy-linked money laundering case. The probe agency also claimed that Kejriwal “took advantage” of being the chief minister of Delhi to facilitate money laundering by the AAP, which is a “major beneficiary” of the proceeds of crimes generated in the alleged Delhi liquor scam.
Commenting on the ED’s claim, Kejriwal said, “The policy went through multiple levels. The Law Secretary, Finance Secretary, and all signed off. The Lieutenant Governor also signed. I don’t understand how Kejriwal and Sisodia are only in the dock”.