India’s federal investigators arrested Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia over allegations that the city received kickbacks from alcohol companies seeking the privatisation the sector in the national capital.
Mr Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday evening after he was called in for questioning over the alleged payments that would have led to the government's exit from the liquor business in 2021.
The bureau said Mr Sisodia — who presides over several departments, including finance, excise and education — was arrested after he gave “evasive replies” and failed to “co-operate in the investigation”.
The bureau filed a case against the minister and other accused employees of the state government, including some private liquor company executives, in August last year and raided his residence.
The proposed privatisation, meant to increase revenue and eliminate the black market, was cancelled by the government after the allegations emerged, with most of the 849 private liquor stores shutting their outlets.
The Delhi government then reopened state-run liquor stores.
The Aam Aadmi Party, the ruling party in Delhi, was formed after a nationwide anti-corruption campaign in 2012 when several former bureaucrats, journalists, advocates and activists teamed up to end political and social malpractices.
The party has been in power in Delhi since 2014 and has sought to establish itself as a national party and a key opposition to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government.
It has already won control of northern Punjab state.
However, the BJP accuses AAP leaders of being corrupt and involved in irregular practices.
Mr Sisodia is the second Delhi minister after Satyendra Jain to be arrested. Mr Jain was arrested on money laundering charges in May last year.
The AAP has accused Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party of conducting a witch hunt against its leaders and considers Mr Sisodia's arrest as a setback.
“Manish is innocent. His arrest is dirty politics. There is a lot of anger among the people due to the arrest of Manish,” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Twitter.
“Everyone is watching. People are understanding everything. People will respond to this. It will boost our spirits further. Our struggle will get stronger.”
AAP leaders and party members will gather outside the BJP's headquarters in the national capital on Monday to protest against Mr Sisodia’s arrest.
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
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Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
Muslim Council of Elders condemns terrorism on religious sites
The Muslim Council of Elders has strongly condemned the criminal attacks on religious sites in Britain.
It firmly rejected “acts of terrorism, which constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of houses of worship”.
“Attacking places of worship is a form of terrorism and extremism that threatens peace and stability within societies,” it said.
The council also warned against the rise of hate speech, racism, extremism and Islamophobia. It urged the international community to join efforts to promote tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
