NEW DELHI, May 8 (Xinhua) -- A probe has been ordered into corruption allegations against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, levelled by his sacked water resources minister.
A senior government official said Monday that Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal has asked the anti-corruption branch of Delhi Police to carry out the investigation against Kejriwal, also the head of anti-graft Aam Aadmi Party (Common People's Party).
The probe order comes in the wake of Delhi's sacked Water Resources Minister Kapil Mishra claiming Sunday, a day after he was removed from the post, that he saw Kejriwal accepting a bribe of 20 million Indian rupees from another Minister Satyendra Jain, who holds the health portfolio.
Mishra also met the anti-corruption branch chief M.K. Meena Monday and submitted details of his allegations in a sealed envelope. "I have shared all the evidence with the anti-corruption branch. I am the complainant as well as the witness in this case," he told the media.
"I want to say that Kejriwal, Jain and I should go through a lie detector test," Mishra said, when asked about the evidence he had submitted to the police.
The Delhi chief minister has not yet reacted to the allegations, but his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has strongly defended him and rubbished the allegations of Mishra. "The allegations are nothing but a joke. No one will believe them," Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.
"He has cast aspersions on the chief minister. The baseless allegations are not even worth responding to. I don't even know what to say," he said, adding that Mishra was removed by Kejriwal apparently for mismanagement in water supply across Delhi.
But Mishra has said he was removed as he had pointed out the water tanker scam in Delhi. "I told Kejriwal a number of times to act against previous Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for her involvement in the scam but he turned a blind eye and instead removed me," he said.
