Social activist Anna Hazare, who had a decade ago become the face of the anti-corruption movement, Friday said he had warned Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in the excise policy case, to stay away from making such a policy.

Hazare, who spearheaded the Lokpal movement in the early 2010s along with Kejriwal, said the Delhi chief minister was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate because of his own deeds.

“I had told him that our job is not to make excise policy. Even a small child knows that liquor is bad. I had asked him to stay away from this (excise policy) issue. But he went ahead and made the policy,” Hazare said, speaking to PTI at his village Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra.

“He thought that he will earn more money and that is why he made this policy. I felt sad and wrote to him twice. I felt sad that a person like Kejriwal, who once worked with me and raised our voice against alcohol, is now making the excise policy.

“He got arrested due to his deeds. Had he not done anything, there was no question of his being arrested. Now law will take its course and the government will do the needful,” Hazare said.

Kejriwal spent the night at the ED office in central Delhi after his arrest in connection with the excise policy-linked money laundering case on Thursday night.

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