The Enforcement Directorate arrested Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan on Monday after the central agency raided his house and grilled him for six hours.
Khan was heard saying, "mai bekasoor hoon" to media persons and party workers as ED officials whisked him away in a car outside his residence.
Watch the video:
In a post on X, Khan wrote that ED officials had arrived at his residence in Delhi's Okhla to arrest him. He alleged that the central agency had been continuously harassing him for the past two years.
"It is 7 AM right now. ED has come to my residence to arrest me in the name of a search warrant. My mother-in-law has been diagnosed with cancer. She had an operation four days ago. She is also at my house. I have written to them (ED) and I have replied to every notice. Their only motive is to arrest me and stop our work. For the last two years, these people have been harassing me, and filing fake cases against me. Every day, they are creating some or the other problem for not only me but my entire party...We are neither going to bow down to them nor are we going to be afraid of them, they will send us to jail. I am hopeful that the way we got justice in the court earlier, this time too we will get justice," Khan said in a self-made video on X.
Several AAP leaders, including Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, hit out at the BJP government at the Centre, saying agencies are targeting those who raised their voice against the ruling party.
On X, Sisodia said the only work left for the ED is to "suppress every voice raised against the BJP and break it". Those who do not break, are arrested and put in jail, he alleged.
Singh claimed that the ED has no evidence against Khan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "dictatorship" and the ED's "hooliganism" continue, he alleged.
Singh said the ED had called Khan for questioning but he informed them that his mother-in-law had a surgery for cancer but the ED reached his residence.
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva hit out at the AAP and alleged that there is a "long" list of "corrupt" people in the party.
"There is a long list of corrupt people in the AAP. When the law takes its course, they start shouting. Amanatullah Khan, who did corruption in the Delhi Waqf Board, is speaking against the ED action. If you did corruption, you will have to answer. The law is equal for everyone," he told news agency ANI.
Sachdeva said that since the ED reached Khan's residence he has been alleging that they are there to arrest him but he is not talking about the fact that they have gone there to probe the financial irregularities committed in the Waqf Board.
"This country works on the principle of law and as you sow so shall you reap," he added.
Waqf board money laundering case
Earlier in April this year, the Rouse Avenue Court granted bail to Khan in connection with the Enforcement Directorate's recent complaint filed against him for alleged non-attendance of the summons in the Delhi Waqf Board money laundering case.
ED recently moved a complaint against him for not appearing before the agency and not joining the probe in the case related to the alleged irregularities in appointment in Delhi Waqf Board and leasing of its properties.
The federal probe agency had alleged that Khan has elevated his role from witness to accused by filing an anticipatory bail plea and running away from the investigation. ED's lawyer further stated that they were never able to conclude the probe against him because he was not presenting himself before the agency.
A charge sheet has already been filed against four accused persons and one firm. It has been alleged that Rs 100 crore Waqf Properties were given on lease illegally. It is also alleged that 32 contractual employees were appointed in the Delhi Waqf Board during the chairmanship of Khan, who flouted the rules.
