• Clean chit...CBI found nothing in my bank locker, says Manish Sisodia, according to media reports

CBI officials searched Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's locker here on Tuesday, chaos reigning outside the bank as camera crews jostled with each other and curious crowds gathered to see what was happening.

A team of about five Central Bureau of Investigation officials reached the PNB branch at Sector 4 Vasundhara in Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of the national capital, to execute the search, officials said.

Sisodia was at the bank with his wife.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader is among the 15 people and entities named in an FIR registered by the agency in connection with alleged irregularities in the implementation of Delhi government's Excise Policy 2021-22.

The CBI is welcome, Sisodia had said in a tweet on Monday.

"Tomorrow, the CBI is coming to check our bank locker. They did not find anything during a 14-hour-long raid at my residence on August 19. They won't find anything in the locker too. The CBI is welcome. My family and I will extend full cooperation in the probe," the deputy chief minister said in his tweet in Hindi.

On August 19, the federal probe agency had raided 31 locations, including Sisodia's residence.

Sisodia has been saying he has been made an accused in a false case to stop the march of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has emerged as an alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

During a special session of the Delhi Assembly on Friday, the AAP leader had claimed that the BJP-led Centre is acting like a serial killer to eliminate state governments and described the CBI FIR against him as "fake" and based on "mere sources".

The CBI has contended that the new liquor policy was introduced without the permission of Delhi's then Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. It alleges that many ineligible vendors were awarded licences by the Delhi government in exchange for bribes. The policy, introduced in November last year, was withdrawn eight months later amid allegations of corruption.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has rejected all allegations of irregularities in the policy. Sisodia has said it was implemented with complete transparency and has alleged that the BJP raised the issue to counter AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal's political challenge. "These people are not concerned about the scam. Their worry is Arvind Kejriwal [the Chief Minister of Delhi], who is loved by the masses and has emerged as a national option," he said following the raids at his home.