ACB Gets 4-Day Custody of Amanatullah Khan in Waqf Case, AAP Alleges Conspiracy

A pistol, Rs 12 lakh in cash and a note-counting machine were recovered from Khan's aide Hamid Ali.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Amanatullah Khan.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Amanatullah Khan AAP)

The Delhi Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday, 16 September, arrested AAP leader Amanatullah Khan in connection with a corruption case related to the Delhi Waqf Board.

On Saturday, a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court granted the ACB a 4-day custody of the MLA.

Khan was summoned for questioning by the ACB and his house was raided on Friday after the agency began its probe against alleged irregularities in recruitment in the Delhi Waqf board.

Following the raid, the East District Police lodged three FIRs at Jamia Nagar Police Station. Two of these were against his aides Hamid Ali and Kausar Imam Siddique and the third was for allegedly obstructing the ACB raid in discharge of government work.

Following his arrest, AAP released a statement and said, "Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan has been arrested in a baseless & totally fake case. Nothing was found from his residence or office during the raid."

The party added, "This is a new conspiracy to implicate the MLA in a false case and defame our party."

"We have arrested MLA Amanatullah Khan for his involvement in a case registered with the ACB on the basis of incriminating material and evidence against him and from the recovery during the searches conducted today," ACB Chief, Additional CP, Madhur Verma, said.

The ACB claimed that a total of Rs 24 lakh in cash, two illegal arms and ammunition were recovered from two of his associates.

'Delhi Police Sent To Harass My Family': Khan

Earlier in the day, Khan said on Twitter, "While I was called to the ACB office to for questioning, the Delhi police was sent to harass my family."

"I have full faith in the Constitution and judiciary of this country," he added.

Moreover, a recent tweet from his account attributed to his wife says that "after Amanat went to ACB's office, police officer raided their house and searched. But the media, which is called the fourth pillar of democracy, is misleading by spreading false news."

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also slammed Khan's arrest, saying that the alleged "Operation Lotus" by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was ongoing to "break" every AAP leader.

"First they arrested Satyendra Jain, but there is no evidence against him in the court. They raided my house. Didn't get anything Then they started a fake investigation against Kailash Gehlot, and now Amanatullah Khan is arrested. Operation Lotus is on to break every AAP leader," Sisodia said on Twitter.

On Thursday, a senior official said that the Okhla MLA was called for questioning on Friday at 12 pm in connection with the Prevention of Corruption Act case registered in 2020.

Khan, the chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board, tweeted about the notice, and claimed that he has been summoned as he built a new Waqf board office. It can be clearly heard in this video that the police officers are saying that nothing was found in the search.

Earlier, the ACB had written to LG Saxena's Secretariat demanding that Khan be removed as the Delhi Waqf Board chairman for allegedly hampering a probe by "bullying" the witnesses in a case against him.

Agency Probes Against Various AAP Leaders 

This comes after central investigative agencies started probing Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyendar Jain in different cases.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) named Sisodia as the prime accused in the Delhi liquor excise policy case, which has been registered under sections of the Indian Penal Code related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The money-laundering case against Satyendar Jain was registered by the CBI in August 2017 under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The agency claimed to have seized "unexplained" cash worth Rs 2.85 crore and 133 gold coins after the first round of raids conducted on 6 June against Jain's family and others. It also seized various "incriminating" documents and digital records during these raids.

(With inputs from PTI and Hindustan Times.)