AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan sent to judicial custody till Sept 23 in money laundering case
Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court on Monday remanded Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan to judicial custody till September 23 in the money laundering case regarding the alleged irregularities in the recruitment and misuse of properties of the Delhi Waqf Board.
Khan was arrested on September 2 by the Enforcement Directorate after being grilled by the central agency for six hours.
During the hearing, the ED had sought 14-day judicial custody of Khan, saying that no further custodial interrogation of the accused was required and he should be sent to judicial custody.
‘If released, Amanatullah Khan may influence and hamper probe’: ED
The ED told the court that if released, Khan may influence witnesses and hamper investigation.
Ahead of his arrest last week, the AAP legislator had said,”It is seven in the morning, and the ED has come to arrest me in the name of a search warrant. My mother-in-law has cancer, and she is currently at my home. I have written to them, and I have also replied to each of their notices. These people have been harassing me continuously for the last two years. Their only aim is to break our party. We are not going to bow down, and we are not going to break.”
In April this year, the city court had granted bail to the AAP MLA in connection with the ED’s complaint against him for alleged non-attendance of the summons in the case.
According to ED, Khan elevated his role from witness to accused by filing an anticipatory bail plea and running away from the investigation. The agency’s lawyer further stated that they were never able to conclude the probe against him because he was not presenting himself before the agency, ANI reported.
A charge sheet has already been filed against four accused persons and one firm. It has been alleged that ₹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.