A local court on Friday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia till March 22 in a money laundering probe related to the Delhi government’s now-scrapped excise policy. The agency had sought seven days of further custodial interrogation of Sisodia.

The counsel for ED on Friday told the court that the federal agency has found fresh findings against Sisodia. The counsel alleged that Sisodia changed his mobile phone the very same day the Lieutenant Governor Delhi forwarded the complaint against him to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). “Extending Sisodia’s custody, the court said that extension of his remand is justified ‘in light of fresh evidence found against him’.

It was further argued that the agency’s probe revealed that Sisodia was using a mobile phone for nearly eight months but he changed the same on July 22 last year, the day when LG forwarded the complaint to CBI. The ED counsel said that Sisodia has claimed that the phone was damaged. “The timing was very important”, the ED counsel submitted.

The court was further told that Sisodia has so far been confronted with four individuals connected to the case. However, he needs to be confronted with two more individuals. The agency further argued that it is awaiting a mail dump from CBI and that Sisodia needs to be confronted with those emails (running into over one lakh in number). The counsel for the ED further contended that the members of the South cartel were staying in a Delhi Hotel in 2021 while the Excise policy was being framed.

Denying the allegations, the defence counsel for Sisodia argued that the ED is rehashing the grounds for custody previously taken by the CBI. The defence argued that there is no whisper about the alleged proceeds of crime which is “fundamental to allegations of money laundering”.

The ED arrested Sisodia on March 9 after he was questioned in Tihar jail, where he has been lodged after the CBI ended its round of interrogation. The CBI had arrested Sisodia on February 26.