Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan, who was arrested on Thursday, 12 May, for protesting against a demolition drive in south Delhi, was granted bail by the city's Saket court on Friday.
Khan and five others had been arrested for "rioting and obstructing public servants in discharge of duty," as per the police, from Delhi's Madanpur Khadar area.
He was later sent to judicial custody in Tihar Jail.
Earlier, the AAP MLA said amid the chaos, "You said that you will remove encroachments. I am with you in this. But you are demolishing poor people's houses. There is not a single encroachment in this area," as per IANS.
He also put out a tweet on Thursday, saying, "Delhi Police has arrested me. They can imprison me but not my spirits."
"The lathi charge by the police on the people opposing the BJP's 'bulldozer system' is unconstitutional. We are against the anti-people policies of the BJP, I will always raise the voice of the people for their rights, no matter how many times I have to go to jail for this," Khan added.
On Thursday night, Khan's wife Shafia took to the MLA's Twitter handle and said, "My husband Amanatullah Khan, MLA from Okhla, was apprehended by the Delhi Police, there is no news from him for the last 4-5 hours. I am afraid that no untoward incident should happen to him, his life is in danger."a
The AAP MLA also participated in protests against a demolition drive scheduled for 9 May at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, which was not conducted after locals and party workers demonstrated against the MCD's bulldozers. This comes amid a spate of such demolition drives in the national capital.
Amanatullah Khan a 'Bad Character': Police
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police said on Friday that the AAP MLA had been declared as a "bad character" in March this year.
Khan was declared as a "history-sheeter" on 30 March, and 18 FIRs have been levelled against the politician so far, the Delhi Police was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The 30 March order, signed by the station house officer of Jamia Nagar, reads: "As Amanatullah Khan has become a habitual criminal and has been involved in land grabbing and hurt offences and the prosecution made against him have failed to deter him from his criminal activities, his activities need to be kept under surveillance."
(With inputs from IANS and ANI.)
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