ED arrests son of Punjab liquor baron in Delhi excise policy case

New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Punjab-based businessman Gautam Malhotra, the son of former SAD MLA and liquor baron Deep Malhotra, in connection with its money laundering investigation linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy, officials said Wednesday. Malhotra, promoter of the Oasis group of Punjab, was taken into custody under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Official sources alleged he was “evasive” in his replies and his role with regard to the charges of cartelisation vis-a-vis the excise policy formulated by the Delhi government is under the radar of the agency. The businessman will be produced before a Delhi court where the ED will seek his custody.

Malhotra’s liquor manufacturing and distribution business is spread across Punjab and some other regions like Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, officials said. The federal probe agency had raided premises linked to Malhotra’s group last year in Punjab’s Faridkot and some other locations.

The excise policy 202122 was scrapped in August last year and the Delhi lieutenant governor later asked the CBI to probe the alleged irregularities. The ED’s money laundering probe stems from the CBI FIR.

Union Home minister Amit Shah in December 2022 speaking in parliament that the drug menace is a serious problem which is destroying generations and the profits being made from drugs are utilised for terrorism as well.

Shah was replying to the debate in Lok Sabha under rule 193 on the “Problem of drug abuse in the country and steps taken by the government.”

BY ANI

Finance Min Nirmala Sitharaman and BJP Nat’l Prez JP Nadda during the Budget Session of Parl, in New Delhi on Wednesday.

New Delhi (ANI): Bhartiya Janta Party national president Jagat Prakash Nadda will release the manifesto for the Tripura assembly elections on Friday ahead of the state assembly election this month, party source said on Tuesday. “Nadda will release the manifesto for the Tripura assembly elections on February 9. He will visit Tripura on the same date,” the source said. According to the source, the party has added many new points to the manifesto.

Dr Ahtesham Siddiqui

New Delhi: A flight training aircraft for student pilots overturned at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport on Wednesday. The pilot is safe, the official said.

The incident when the training aircraft of the Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology, while taking off on a solo flight veered off from the runway.

YOUTH-CENTRIC EVENT

Lucknow: IAS officer Abhishek Singh who was absent without information has been suspended on the instruction of chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Singh, an officer of the 2011 batch, will be attached to the UP revenue department during the suspension period. Also, he will have to seek permission before leaving the headquarters.

It is the second time that this officer has been suspended. Earlier, in 2014, he was suspended for indecent behavior with a Dalit teacher.

Singh’s wife Durga Shakti Nagpal is also an IAS officer and was posted as special secretary of medical education in the UP government. Singh was sent to Gujarat as the election observer but after a controversy over getting a photo clicked in front of the vehicle and posting it on social media, he was removed by the Election Commission of India.