Delhi Waqf Board Scam: Amanatullah Khan Says Was Called For 'Questioning' After AAP Claims ED Arrested Him

After the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) claimed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested party MLA Amanatullah Khan in connection with a money laundering case associated with the Delhi Waqf Board, the legislator clarified that he had been summoned for ‘questioning’ by the probe agency instead.

“I came for questioning at 11 AM. Since then questioning was going on. Now I am free so going home,” Khan told news agency PTI after leaving the ED office at midnight.

On Thursday night, several AAP leaders, including party MP Sanjay Singh and ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, visited Khan’s residence in Okhla to show support and solidarity with his family members.

While speaking to reporters outside Khan’s house, Atishi said that they had received news about his arrest.

“We are getting the news that AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan ji has been arrested,” she said.

Asserting that the case against Khan was ‘fake’, Atishi remarked, “This is an attack on AAP before Lok Sabha polls. Why was Kejriwal arrested before the polls? Why has Amanatullah Khan been arrested after a non-bailable warrant was quashed? This is a conspiracy to break the AAP by scaring its MLAs. But we won’t be scared.”

Khan had appeared before the federal agency earlier in the day for questioning in the money laundering case. This came after the Supreme Court refuse to entertain his anticipatory bail plea on Monday.

A top court bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta asked Khan to appear before the anti-corruption agency on April 18 at 11 am.

Before entering the ED office, Khan — speaking to reporters — claimed that he followed the rules when he was the Waqf Board’s chairman, adding that he did everything after taking legal opinions and as per the new Act (for the board) that came into play in 2013.

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

According to the central probe agency, Khan had 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 ED 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 Khan’s chairmanship (2018-2022).

The AAP leader “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,” the ED said.

The probe agency said that “incriminating” evidence both in physical and digital form were seized during the raids, which then “indicated” that Khan was involved in the money laundering case.

Meanwhile, the AAP had alleged that this was among those “false cases” which were being filed against its party leaders.

While refusing to entertain his bail plea, the Supreme Court had said, “What has happened is this… Repeated summons were issued and you did not appear. That’s wrong. How can we condone that?”

Three alleged associates of the AAP leader — Zeeshan Haider, Daud Nasir and Jawed Imam Siddique — were also named in the charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate.

Reacting to Khan’s arrest, AAP leader Sanjay Singh — who is out on bail in the excise policy-linked money laundering case — said that ministers and MLAs “are being arrested by making fake cases against them”. He claimed that the probe agency has fabricated a “baseless case” against Amanatullah Khan.

AAP minister Atishi said that even if all the party leaders and workers are put in jail, even then “people of Delhi will vote for AAP”.

“No matter how much you scare us; we are not going to bow down, we are not going to be afraid! We will continue to fight strongly against your dictatorship,” she said in a post on X.

Struggling with its own battles, AAP’s national convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is currently lodged in judicial custody at Tihar Jail in connection with the excise policy case.

However, the central probe agency has denied these allegations and said that arrests were based on materials found during investigation.

(With PTI inputs)