Bizman Vijay Nair arrested in a case involving Delhi CM Manish Sisodia
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New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested on Tuesday businessman Vijay Nair after calling him to the agency's headquarters for questioning.
Nair, who was abroad for quite some time, is allegedly connected to the Delhi Excise Policy scam case in which Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is an accused, officials said.
Sources said Nair was arrested for his alleged role in "cartelisation" and "conspiracy" related to alleged irregularities in the allocation of liquor licenses in the national capital.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) condemned the arrest of Nair who is closely associated with the party and alleged that it was part of the BJP's "ongoing attempt" to crush the AAP and obstruct its campaign in Gujarat where assembly polls are due to be held this year.
The CBI FIR has alleged that Arjun Pandey, an associate of Sisodia, had once collected about Rs 2-4 crore in cash from liquor businessman Sameer Mahendru on behalf of Nair, former CEO of Only Much Louder (OML), an entertainment and event management company.
"Source further revealed that Arun Ramchandra Pillai used to collect undue pecuniary advantage from Sameer Mahendru of IndoSpirit for onward transmission to the accused public servants through Nair, it claimed.
The CBI in its FIR has alleged that "close associates" of Sisodia -- Amit Arora, Director of Buddy Retail Pvt. Limited based in Gurgaon, Dinesh Arora and Arjun Pandey -- were "actively involved in managing and diverting the undue pecuniary advantage collected from liquor licensees" for the accused public servants.
The CBI has invoked IPC section related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act in its FIR filed against 15 entities.
Nair, a well-known name in entertainment circuit, had started OML as a management company for Indie bands but gradually shifted focus towards comedy scenes with some noted standup artists, comedy collectives and live music shows.
Nair's leadership at OML came under controversy including #MeToo allegation which was strongly denied by him. It drew criticism of promoting a culture of sexism at Only Much Louder which was denied by the company in a detailed rebuttal.
PTI with inputs
