Noida:

An aide of AAP’s Delhi MLA Amanatullah Khan was arrested while non-bailable warrants were issued against the legislator and his son in connection with a case of assault registered here following a quarrel at a petrol pump, police said on Monday.

Iqrar Ahmed (50), who was apprehended near Kalindi Kunj, was not named in the FIR lodged on May 7 at Noida’s Phase 1 police station after an argument broke out between Khan’s son Anas Ahmed and some workers at a petrol pump.

The Delhi lawmaker also got involved later.

Amanatullah Khan, who represents Okhla in Delhi Assembly, was the only named person in the FIR. His son was mentioned as the “unidentified son of MLA Amantullah Khan” while the other accused were identified as “others in two cars”.

“On Monday, with the help of local intelligence and electronic surveillance, accused Iqrar Ahmed, who was wanted in the case lodged at Phase 1 police station, was arrested. He was held near the border of Kalindi Kunj,” a Noida Police spokesperson said.

Amanatullah Khan’s son was accused of jumping the queue for fuel at the petrol pump and later indulging in threatening behaviour and violence. Amanatullah Khan also allegedly threatened the petrol pump workers, according to the FIR.

The Okhla MLA has denied the charges.

“An FIR was lodged at the Phase 1 police station in connection with a case of assault by some people at a petrol pump here. The investigation team has collected evidence in the case.

“The CCTV footage was analysed and statements of witnesses was recorded, and on the basis of that a person – Iqrar Ahmed – was arrested today,” Additional DCP (Noida) Manish Mishra said.

He was produced in a local court here which has sent him to judicial custody, Mishra said.

An investigation against other accused is underway and they will soon face legal proceedings, he said.

“The investigating official in the case had requested the court and non-bailable warrants (NBW) have been issued against people identified as Abu Baqar, Anas and Amantullah. We will soon ensure legal proceedings against them under the strictest laws as per rules,” Mishra said.

The police had initially lodged a case under sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentionally insulting knowing it to be likely that such provocation will break public peace), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) and 427 (mischief) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Later, sections 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 452 (tress-passing), 307 (attempt to murder), 394 (causing hurt during robbery) and 34 (act done by several persons with common objective) of the IPC and provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act were added to the case.

The police said Iqrar Ahmed, a native of Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur district, currently lives in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh area.

The Noida Police last week visited the AAP MLA’s Delhi home for an inquiry in connection with the case, according to officials. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s first meeting with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail had a notable absence — Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan. Mr Khan and his son Anas Ahmed are facing allegations of assaulting and threatening staff at a fuel pump in Noida Sector 95. Cops have claimed that Mr Khan and Anas are “underground”.

An FIR has been registered against the two under charges of assault and criminal intimidation, Noida police officers have said. The cops said a police team visited the MLA’s residence to serve him a notice, but he was not found there. The officers have said Khan and his son were not cooperating in the investigation. Their phones are also switched off, according to the officers in Noida police.

The FIR, police said, was registered on a complaint by a fuel pump employee. The complainant has alleged that Anas visited the pump to refuel but jumped the queue. Anas was mentioned as “unidentified” in the FIR. He allegedly insisted that his car should be refuelled first and assaulted the salesperson. Senior police officer Manish Kumar Mishra said the FIR has been registered at Phase 1 police station against Mr Khan, Anas and some unidentified persons.

The AAP MLA told news agency PTI that his son, a student of law, was on his way to take an exam when the incident happened. “The staff of the petrol pump misbehaved with my son and also manhandled him. Now, they are using incomplete CCTV footage to malign my image and frame me in a one-sided police action,” he alleged.

Mr Khan has also said that after he received a call from local police, he reached the petrol pump, spoke to its owner and “settled” the matter. But later he learnt that he was “implicated” in the case by the police, he said.

Vinod Kumar Singh, the complainant, has alleged that Anas arrived there in his car and asked the salesman to refuel his car first. “He then started beating the salesman and threatened that he was the MLA’s son. He took out an iron rod from the car and started hitting around. He also broke the card machine,” the FIR says.

“To protect the salesman, other petrol pump employees got involved in the scuffle. The police were called in. But he fled the spot,” it stated.

The complaint adds that Anas returned later to the fuel pump and threatened to thrash all the employees there. “He then called his father who arrived there in a convoy of two cars and threatened the pump manager by saying that he (manager) would not be able to do anything if he (Khan) starts beating him and the workers. The MLA then spoke to the pump owner over the phone and told him that this pump falls in our area and if you are here to do business, then do it,” the complainant alleged.

The FIR has been registered under several Indian Penal Code sections, including those related to voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation and mischief.

A two-time MLA from Okhla, Mr Khan was declared a ‘bad character’ by Delhi Police last year. 

The Delhi Chief Minister, meanwhile, told AAP MLAs that the BJP wanted to topple the party’s governments in Delhi and Punjab after his arrest on March 21, but the plan did not work.

The AAP, he said, had become more united after his arrest. “They had a plan that they will arrest me, break the party, topple the government in Delhi and then in Punjab also. After arrest, their plan failed. You all did not break,” he told the MLAs.

The AAP national convener was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money-laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy. The Supreme Court Friday granted him interim bail so that he can campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls. He has to surrender on June 2, a day after the last round of polling in the seven-phase election.

New Delhi:

AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan has been asked by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to depose again next week in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Waqf Board during his chairmanship, officials sources said on Saturday.

The MLA has been asked to appear on April 29 and continue with the recording of his statement under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.

The 50-year-old Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator from the Okhla assembly seat was questioned by the central agency for about 13 hours last week.

In a related development, a Delhi court on Saturday granted bail to Amanatullah Khan in this money laundering case for allegedly evading its earlier summons issued to him in the case.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Divya Malhotra granted bail to Amanatullah Khan on a personal bond of Rs 15,000 and one surety of like amount after he appeared before the court.

AAP leader and Delhi Cabinet Minister Atishi had earlier said that the ED case against Amanatullah Khan was “fake” and the party stood by its legislator.

The first deposition of Amanatullah Khan on April 18 came after the Supreme Court refused to entertain his anticipatory bail application in this case. The Supreme Court had directed him to join the investigation.

Speaking to reporters before entering the ED office that day, Amanatullah Khan had claimed that he followed the rules when he was the chairman of the Waqf Board and did everything after taking the legal opinion and as per the new Act (for the board) that came in 2013.

The money laundering case against Amanatullah Khan and his alleged associates stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR and three Delhi Police complaints.

The ED, which had conducted raids on his premises, has claimed that Amanatullah Khan acquired “huge proceeds of crime” in cash through illegal recruitment of staff in the Delhi Waqf Board and invested those to purchase immovable assets in the name of his associates.

The agency had alleged in a statement that “illegal recruitment” of staff took place in the Waqf Board and “illegal personal gains” were made by unfairly leasing the Waqf Board properties during Amanatullah Khan’s chairmanship (2018-2022). 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan left the Directorate of Enforcement’s (ED) office in Delhi post-midnight on Friday after being questioned by the agency in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Waqf Board during his chairmanship.

The AAP MLA, who reached the ED Office around 11:00 am on Thursday, was questioned by the ED for more than 12 hours. The agency questioned and recorded his statement in connection with the case.

“I was called (by ED) for questioning; the Supreme Court had directed me to appear, so I had come at 11:00 am. I was questioned and my statement was recorded, and now I am leaving,” Amanatullah Khan said while speaking to ANI after the questioning by ED.

The AAP MLA also claimed that central agencies have been pushing “him to resign and turn against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.”

“I want to tell the public of Okhla that for the last two years, the central agencies have been chasing and irritating me. They have been trying to get my resignation. And leave Arvind Kejriwal and turn against him,” Mr Khan alleged in a video message. The video was also shared by Mr Khan in a post on X on Thursday evening.

#WATCH | Delhi: Amanatullah Khan, AAP MLA says, ” I was called (by ED) for questioning, Supreme Court had directed me to appear so I had come at 11:00 am. I was questioned and my statement was recorded and now I am leaving…” pic.twitter.com/rkxs9v1xpi

— ANI (@ANI) April 18, 2024

Earlier in the day, AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh alleged that the ED was planning to arrest Mr Khan in connection with a “baseless” case.

Taking to social media platform X, Sanjay Singh said, “Modi government is working on its Operation Lotus with full might. Ministers and MLAs are being arrested on false charges. ED is planning to arrest @KhanAmanatullah by framing a baseless case against him. The dictatorship will end soon. I am going to meet his family.”

The AAP MP along with other party leaders, including Delhi Ministers Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj, and Gopal Rai, reached Mr Khan’s residence to meet his family on Thursday night.

“I want to say this to PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah in very clear words: their Operation Lotus will not be successful in Delhi…Your dictatorship will end soon. This matter has been going on since 2016, when the CBI filed a chargesheet and Amanatullah Khan was not arrested. Even the court told ED that it has no proof against Amanatullah Khan, despite this, he is being arrested,” Singh told reporters.

“This conspiracy has been created to dismantle the Delhi government and break the party… AAP stands with Amanatullah Khan and his family… We haven’t received any official information from the ED as of now,” he added.

Supreme Court ने ED को कहा था कि ED के पास कोई सुबूत नहीं है, इसके बावज़ूद ED @KhanAmanatullah को गिरफ़्तार कर रही है।

हमारे मुख्य Arvind Kejriwal जी को गिरफ़्तार किया गया, मनीष सिसोदिया जी, सत्येन्द्र जैन जी को गिरफ़्तार किया गया।

मोदी और अमित शाह के नेतृत्व में विधायकों को… pic.twitter.com/qNw0Dwy94X

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) April 18, 2024

Earlier, the Supreme Court on Monday (April 15) declined to grant anticipatory bail to Amanatullah Khan in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Waqf Board during his chairmanship.

But, the bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta also stated that Mr Khan should not be arrested unless there is sufficient material against him. It cautioned the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against unnecessarily exercising the right to arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Earlier, ED had moved an application for the issuance of an open-ended, non-bailable warrant against Amanatullah Khan.
Recently, the ED filed a charge sheet against four people and one firm in a case of alleged money laundering at the Delhi Waqf Board during the chairmanship of Amanat Ullah Khan.

ED had been sending summons to him to squeeze him in relation to Delhi Waqf Board money laundering case. But, his anticipatory bail pleas have been dismissed by the trial court as well the High court.
The money laundering case against Mr Khan stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR and three Delhi Police complaints.

The allegations against Mr Khan concern his time as Chairman of the Waqf Board. He has been accused of illegally recruiting people in violation of the law and unfairly leasing Waqf Board properties during 2018-2022.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Less than a month after arresting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case, the Enforcement Directorate has taken an AAP MLA, Amanatullah Khan, into custody in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi Waqf Board, the party has claimed. 

Delhi Minister Atishi and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh are at the MLA’s house and the Delhi unit of the party has posted on X that Mr Khan’s alleged arrest is another chapter in the “BJP’s failed attempts to finish off the Aam Aadmi Party”. 

Mr Khan was the chairman of the Waqf Board between 2018 and 2022 and the Enforcement Directorate, which is investigating a money laundering angle, has alleged that the MLA acquired “huge proceeds of crime” in cash through illegal recruitment of staff in the Board, which manages Waqf properties.  

The ED has claimed he invested the money to purchase assets in the name of his associates.

On Monday, the Supreme Court had refused to grant anticipatory bail to the AAP MLA in the case and asked him to join the investigation today. The bench had, however, cautioned the ED against “unnecessarily exercising” its right to arrest under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

“You arrest him in case there is material. In case, there is no material, do not arrest him. You have to follow Section 19 of the PMLA. Right to arrest should not be taken for granted,” the bench had said. 

(With inputs from agencies)

New Delhi:

A day after conducting raids against Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan, the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday alleged he acquired “huge proceeds of crime” in the form of cash from illegal recruitment in the Delhi Waqf Board and invested it in purchasing immovable assets in the name of his associates.

The federal agency had on Tuesday raided 13 locations in the national capital linked to the legislator and persons associated with him.

“The searches were conducted in the case related to illegal recruitment of staff in Delhi Waqf Board and illegal personal gains by way of unfairly leasing out of Waqf Board properties during the chairmanship of the Board by Amantullah Khan during 2018-2022,” the agency claimed in a statement.

It said a CBI FIR and three Delhi Police complaints formed the basis of its action against the Aam Aadmi Party MLA.

Amanatullah Khan, the ED said, “acquired huge proceeds of crime out of the said criminal activities in cash and this cash amount was invested in purchase of various immovable properties in Delhi in the name of his associates”.

Several “incriminating” records and physical and digital evidence were seized during the raids which “indicate” Amanatullah Khan’s role in money laundering, it said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, after Amanatullah Khan met him on Wednesday, alleged there was a campaign underway to end the AAP and asserted that false cases are being filed against party leaders.

The 49-year-old legislator represents the Okhla constituency in the Delhi Assembly.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday raided the premises of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in Delhi as part of a money-laundering investigation against him and some others, official sources said.

The 49-year-old legislator represents the Okhla constituency in the Delhi Assembly.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) searches are being undertaken under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The federal agency has taken cognisance of a Delhi Anti-Corruption Bureau FIR and a Central Bureau of Investigation FIR against the legislator, related to alleged corruption linked to illegal appointments in the Delhi Waqf Board.

Mr Khan is the Delhi Waqf Board chairman.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)