DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2024, LUCKNOW, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES Nadda on BJP-RSS ties: We have grown, more capable now… the BJP runs itself ED MOVES TO BUILD ITS CASE IN EXCISE POLICY PROBE Twin blow: Maliwal case flares up, Kejriwal, AAP named in excise case First time, ED has named party and CM; court to take call on cognizance Says party has no plan for temples at the disputed sites in Mathura, Kashi TOMORROW LIZ MATHEW NEW DELHI, MAY 17 BJP NATIONAL president J P Nadda has said that the party has grown from the time it needed the RSS and is now “saksham” (capable) and runs its own affairs. The RSS, he said, is an “ideological front” and does its own work. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NIRBHAY THAKUR NEW DELHI, MAY 17 THE EXPRESS INTERVIEW J P NADDA BJP NATIONAL PRESIDENT Cong-SP will bulldoze Ram Temple, learn use of bulldozer from Yogi: PM PM Narendra Modi with CM Yogi Adityanath in Barabanki. PTI VIKAS PATHAK NEW DELHI, MAY 17 IF THE Congress and the Samajwadi Party come to power, they will use a bulldozer on the Ram temple atAyodhya,sendRamLalla `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 back to the tent, Prime Minister NarendraModisaidatBarabanki in Uttar Pradesh Friday, adding that they could take a leaf from UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s bulldozer book. DECISION On the same day, he 2024 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Sonia tells Rae Bareli voters: I am leaving Rahul in your hands... he won’t disappoint PROBINGALLEGEDmoneylaundering in the Delhi excise policy case, the Enforcement Directorate, for the first time, Friday named the Aam Aadmi Party and its leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as accused in a chargesheet — prosecution complaint — on the case under investigation. The ED filed its seventh supplementary chargesheet in the Rouse Avenue Court of Special JudgeKaveriBaweja.Sheislikely to take a call on its cognizance Saturday because she had left thecourt by thetimeit was filed. This is the first time that Kejriwal, who was arrested on March 21 by the ED and granted interim bail until June 1 by the Supreme Court last week, has been mentioned as an accused in an ED prosecution complaint. This is also the first time that a political party has been mentioned as an accused by the ED in a case. The ED made its move a day afterAdditionalSolicitorGeneral S V Raju told the Supreme Court that the AAP would be added as an accused in the case. Appearing for the ED, Raju said the ED had evidence to CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Told to get heart test done for bail extension, Lava top officer sent impersonator: ED MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL NEW DELHI, MAY 17 ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE officers waiting at AIIMS for close to four hours for a highprofile accused out on bail to turn up for a medical check-up were in for a shock when they went inside the cardiologist's chamber for a signature conCongress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka firming that the patient did not Gandhi Vadra, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and former appear. The ED officers were told that the accused — managChhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel in Rae Bareli, Friday. Express ingdirectorof LavaInternational mobile company Hari Om Rai — wasindeedinside,andundergoCongress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra by ing tests. MAULSHREE SETH her side, Rae Bareli MP Sonia TheED officerswere takento AMETHI, RAE BARELI, MAY 17 Gandhi on Friday made a camthebed,wheretheyfoundaman paign pitch for her son and the posing as Rai undergoing checks WITH SAMAJWADI Party (SP) CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 chief Akhilesh Yadav and CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 AAP U-turn after saying Bibhav at fault: Swati is Slapped, kicked on chest, face of BJP conspiracy pelvis: Swati Maliwal in EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE FIR against Kejriwal aide AAP MP Swati Maliwal with police outside the CM’s residence in Delhi, Friday. Anil Sharma ED to SC: We have direct chats between Kejriwal and a hawala operator ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, MAY 17 THEENFORCEMENTDirectorate, which arrested Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on March 21 in the Delhi excise policy case, told the Supreme Court Friday that it hasfound“personal,directchats” between Kejriwal and a hawala operator it did not name — a charge contested by Kejriwal’s lawyer who asked if the agency was “suppressing this information till today to prejudice the outcome”. The bench of Justices Sanjiv CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 NEW DELHI, MAY 17 EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, MAY 17 CRISIS DEEPENED within the AamAadmiParty onFridayafter Delhi Police filed an FIR against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar in connection with the alleged assault on theparty’sRajyaSabhaMPSwati Maliwal on Monday. The FIR states that she was allegedly slapped seven-eight times, “kicked on the chest, stomach and pelvis area”, and threatened that she would be killed. On Friday, teams of the Delhi Police (North district), the Special Cell and the Forensic Science Laboratory Rohini went BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY to Kejriwal’s home to review CCTV footage, collect evidence and recreate the crime scene. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THREEDAYSaftertheAamAadmi Party acknowledged that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s aide BibhavKumarhad“misbehaved” and“actedindecently”withRajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, the party made a U-turn, claiming that Maliwal was a “pawn” in a conspiracy hatched by the BJP to take down the AAP chief. At a press conference Friday evening, the AAP fielded senior party leader Atishi to counter Maliwal's allegations that she was assaulted by Kumar when she went to meet Kejriwal Monday morning. “Ever since Kejriwal has come out on bail, the BJP has been stumped. As a result, they conspired and sent Swati Maliwal to Kejriwal’s residence on Monday morning. The conspiracy was meant to level false allegations on Kejriwal. Swati Maliwal was the faceof thisconspiracy, she was a pawn in this conspiracy,” Atishi said. Friday’s press conference marks AAP’s first pushback against Maliwal who, like Kumar, has a two-decade association with Kejriwal, since his days as an RTI activist. It also comes three days after AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said at a press conference, “Yesterday (on Monday), a condemnable incident took place, I want to tell you about it. Swati Maliwal reached Arvind Kejriwal’s house. She was waiting for him in the drawing room, when Bibhav Kumar came there; he misbehaved and acted indecently with her.” On this change in the AAP CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EC SENDS NOTICE TO GANGOPADHYAY Ex-judge on Mamata: Your rate is Rs 10 lakh... Because you do makeup? Is she even a woman?’ DAMINI NATH & ATRI MITRA NEW DELHI, KOLKATA, MAY 17 THE ELECTION Commission Friday issued a show-cause noticetoformerCalcuttaHighCourt judge and BJP candidate Abhijit Gangopadhyay over his remarks on West Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjeeatarecentelection rally. The poll panel said the remarks were found to be “improper, injudicious and undignified”, and prima facie a violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The Trinamool Congress had complained to the EC on Thursday, a day after Gango- BJP’s Abhijit Gangopadhyay padhyay, the BJP candidate from Tamluk, made the remarks at a rallyinPurbaMedinipur’sHaldia. In his address, Gangopadhyay referred to the Sandeshkhali sexual abuse allegations and said: “Today, the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Fancy cars, OTPs, stolen IDs & fudged invoices: Tracking the trail behind Rs 5,300-cr GST fraud AANCHAL MAGAZINE NEW DELHI, MAY 17 FREQUENTLYCHANGINGphone numbers,usinghigh-endluxury cars, including Maseratis and BMWs to zip through state borders during the day, and then checking into upmarket hotels with fake identities in the evenings — that was part of the OPERATIONS SINCE JUNE 2023 Number of Cases 106 Number of fake firms detected 6,775 Fake ITC Passed on ITC blocked and reversed modus operandi of the alleged kingpins behind an elaborate three-tier tax evasion plot who operated in the Delhi-Noida- Number of Arrests 147 `16,297 Cr `1,295 Cr Source: DGGI Lucknow belt without being detected by authorities for well over six months. Theplotfinallyunravelledon account of some rather innocuous applications: FASTag text messages generated on crossing toll booths and one-time passwords (OTPs)fromfooddelivery apps like Zomato and Swiggy. Thesetrackerswereusedbylawenforcement officers to triangulate the locations of the suspected players behind what has now turned out to be one of the biggest evasion rackets unearthed under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. The unwinding of the plot CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 E EXPLAINED PAGE 1 ANCHOR ● Claimingtax credit WRONGFUL AVAILMENT of input tax credit through fake claims has emerged as one of the biggest causes of concern for GST authorities amid continuing action against fraud, evasion and registration of bogus entities under the indirect tax regime. Lucknow