India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday. The arrest is linked to alleged irregularities involving appointments to the Delhi Waqf Board and the leasing of its properties, which are said to be worth ₹100 crore.
The arrest followed a dramatic raid by the ED at Khan’s residence in Delhi earlier in the day. In a video statement posted on X, Khan accused the ED of acting insensitively. He claimed that the raid upset his mother-in-law, who is recovering from recent cancer surgery.
“The ED arrived under the pretext of a search. My mother-in-law is a cancer patient who was operated on four days ago. I informed the ED about this,” Khan stated.
Footage from the raid shows an elderly woman lying in a bed while Khan speaks with what appears to be an ED officer. Khan is seen requesting a four-week delay, to which the officer responds ambiguously. Khan then questions the purpose of the raid if not for his arrest. Khan’s wife, presumably, is heard expressing frustration about the disruption caused by the raid, emphasizing her mother’s precarious health and threatening legal action if anything happens to her.
Khan has vehemently denied the allegations against him, claiming that the ED has been harassing him and his party with false accusations for two years. He accused the agency of trying to undermine and destabilize the AAP. Khan’s post on X described the situation as a battle against “tyranny” and “fake cases.”
Khan’s arrest makes him the fourth high-profile AAP leader to be detained by central agencies since February last year. The previous detainees include former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Sisodia and Kejriwal were arrested by both the ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with an alleged liquor policy scam. Singh and Sisodia have since been granted bail, with Sisodia’s bail being granted only last month after nearly 18 months in custody. The Supreme Court criticized the prolonged detention as a “travesty of justice.”
Kejriwal remains in jail, having secured bail in the ED case but then being arrested by the CBI, requiring him to fight an additional bail case. Both Singh and Sisodia have criticized the ED for being “repeatedly reprimanded by the Supreme Court” for its investigative practices. Singh pointed out that despite the CBI’s decision not to arrest Khan, the ED continued to pursue the case.
The charges against Khan date back to 2016 when the CBI first filed a case. Singh noted that the CBI had not pursued an arrest, yet the ED persisted with its investigation. In April, Khan had been granted bail by Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court in connection with alleged non-compliance with ED summons related to the Waqf Board case.
AAP leaders, including Sisodia and Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj, have accused the BJP of using central agencies to target political opponents, particularly with an election approaching. Sisodia claimed that the ED’s actions were a tactic to suppress dissent and imprison those who oppose the BJP.
