Hours after the arrest of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Okhla Amanatullah Khan by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), the party claimed that the allegations against him were “fake” and “baseless” and it is a “new conspiracy to implicate” the AAP leader and defame the party.
The party leaders also released videos of the raid in one of the houses of Khan in which Delhi Police and ACB officers are seen with its occupants. The leaders claimed that the police officers themselves said they have not recovered anything.
The ACB, however, claimed to have recovered two firearms, ammunition, Rs 24 lakh in cash, and some documents from four locations of Amanatullah Khan on Friday.
On Friday afternoon, Khan was summoned to the ACB office in North Delhi in a case related to the misappropriation of funds and irregularities in the Delhi Waqf Board. Later, he was put under arrest, and raids were conducted at his various locations in Jamia, Shaheen Bagh, and Okhla.
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Sharing a mobile phone recording of the raid, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tweeted that first, the agency arrested Satyendra Jain, but they could not find anything against him. “They raided my house. Didn’t get anything. Then started a fake investigation against Kailash Gehlot, and now Amanatullah Khan is arrested,” said Sisodia.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh, who shared the same mobile video clip on his Twitter account said: “Truth of Amanatullah Khan’s house raid: It was a bogus raid, the faces of policemen reflect that nothing was found. They were saying to themselves ‘Nothing objectionable was found; No recovery was made.’ Then, why this arresting drama? Do whatever you (BJP) want, but Gujarat will lose.”
Speaking to The New Indian, Khan had said that he had not violated any rules of appointment. Putting the onus on the CEO, Khan said, “(Mohammad A) Abid did the misconduct, not I. I am ready to face the agency. Let them register as many cases against me as I have done nothing wrong.”
Meanwhile, the ACB said that Khan, while working as chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board, illegally recruited 32 persons and violated all norms and government guidelines. He also allegedly did favouritism in appointments. The then CEO of the Delhi Waqf Board had raised red flags against such illegal recruitment.