BJP spreading lies, wants to defame Manish Sisodia: AAP's Atishi

NEW DELHI: Senior AAP leader Atishi on Saturday lashed out at the BJP and the Centre, accusing them of spreading lies about jailed former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and attempting to defame him.

This comes a day after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said it has attached two immovable assets owned by Sisodia and his wife, apart from bank deposits worth Rs 11.49 lakh, in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case.

At a press conference here, Atishi alleged that as per an ED document, Sisodia has assets worth Rs 81 lakh.

''The BJP is spreading lies about Delhi's former deputy CM Manish Sisodia by telling the media that the ED attached Manish Sisodia's assets amounting to Rs 52 crores in the excise case, whereas the ED document says that Sisodia has total assets of Rs 81 lakh only,'' she said.

The AAP leader further alleged that the BJP is ''trying to defame Sisodia'' and asserted that her party was ''not scared of the Centre and its agencies''.

''The BJP wants to tarnish the image of Manish Sisodia because he is the one who provided quality education to every child in Delhi. The BJP should understand that AAP is not scared of them or their agencies. The BJP should apologise to Sisodia and his family,'' she added.

Displaying a document, the senior AAP leader said, ''Sisodia has assets of Rs 81 lakh, which includes Rs 11.50 lakh in his bank account, a flat worth Rs 5 lakh that was purchased in 2005 and another flat worth Rs 65 lakh that was purchased in 2018.'' The probe agency has issued a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach assets worth Rs 52.24 crore of the Sisodia couple and some other accused being probed in the case.