New Delhi: After conducting daylong raids at properties linked to Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan in connection with a corruption case related to Delhi Waqf Board, he was arrested late on Friday evening, Indian Express reported.
The Delhi anti-corruption branch (ACB) allegedly recovered an unlicensed pistol and Rs 12 lakh in cash.
The ACB had issued a notice to Khan for interrogation in a two-year-old corruption case related to the Delhi Waqf Board.
A senior official had said on Thursday, September 15, that the Okhla MLA had been called for questioning at 12 pm on Friday, September 16, in connection with the case registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act in 2020.
In 2016, a case was registered against Khan at the instance of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Headquarters), Revenue department, who alleged that appointments to various existing and non-existing posts by Khan in the Waqf Board were “arbitrary and illegal”.
A first information report (FIR) was registered in January 2020 by ACB under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (relates to public servants taking bribe requires a demand of illegal gratification and the acceptance thereof) and Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
Khan, the chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board, tweeted about the notice, claiming he had been summoned as he built a new Waqf board office.
वक़्फ़ बोर्ड का नया दफ़्तर बनवाया है,
हमें #ACB ने बुलाया है…चलो फिर बुलावा आया है! pic.twitter.com/YAiumagPbc
— Amanatullah Khan AAP (@KhanAmanatullah) September 15, 2022
The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) is probing alleged irregularities in recruitment in the Delhi Waqf board.
Earlier, the ACB had written to the Lieutenant Governor’s Secretariat demanding that Khan be removed as the Delhi Waqf Board chairman for allegedly hampering a probe by “bullying” witnesses in a case against him.
“The witnesses are afraid of Khan, an AAP MLA, due to his aggressive behaviour and his position in the Delhi Waqf Board. Accordingly, the ACB has sought Khan’s removal from the post till the conclusion of the investigation in the case which pertains to financial bungling in the bank accounts of the Waqf Board, creation of tenancy in the board’s properties, corruption in the purchase of vehicles and illegal appointment of 33 personnel in violation of the service rules, among others,” the letter said, according to Indian Express.
Khan has disputed these charges.
Khan, an outspoken critic of the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Union, was arrested in May this year after protesting against the BJP-run civic body’s bulldozing drive in Madanpur Khadar. He received bail a day later.
In the aftermath of this arrest, the news agency ANI reported that the Delhi police had “declared” Khan a “history-sheeter and bad character” on March 30. Khan moved court against this characterisation.