Investigating agency seeks arrest of AAP’s Amanatullah Khan in Waqf case

Earlier, the court had issued summons to AAP MLA Amanatulah Khan in connection with the money laundering case.

New Delhi:

The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday moved a motion in a Delhi court seeking an arrest warrant against AAP MLA Amanatulah Khan in a money laundering case related to alleged irregular appointments in the Delhi Waqf Board.

Special Judge Rakesh Syal of the CBI and ED posted the matter on April 18 after the ED sought time to submit certain documents in support of the application.

“The Bail and Filing Department has received a fresh application for issuance of an open non-bailable warrant against Amanatullah Khan. Examination and registration as per rules SPP (Special Public Prosecutor) seeks some time for ED to submit certain supporting documents” The application was heard. It is submitted for consideration on April 18, 2024 as requested,” the judge said.

Mr Khan, the Okhla MLA of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was not named as an accused in the chargesheet filed recently by the education ministry.

However, the Department of Education recently filed a motion with the District Court to prosecute Mr. Khan for allegedly evading an agency subpoena in this case.

The federal investigating agency also claimed before the ACMM that Mr. Khan elevated his role from witness to accused by filing an anticipatory bail plea and evading investigation.

The Education Department also said the agency was unable to close its investigation into Mr Khan because he did not come forward during the investigation.

“All others were assistants to this individual. His role was much greater than that of the other defendants who have been arrested and charged,” the ED said.

The agency named five entities in its indictment, the Department of Education’s equivalent of a charge sheet, including three of Mr. Khan’s suspected associates – Zeeshan Haider, Daud Nasir and Jawed Imam Siddiqui.

In October last year, the agency carried out raids on premises linked to Mr Khan and a number of others before claiming that the AAP MLA had made “huge proceeds of crime” by illegally recruiting staff to the Delhi Waqf Board and spent the funds on Yu Investment purchases real estate in the name of a partner.

The Ministry of Education said the search related to a case in which the defendants illegally recruited staff and obtained unlawful personal benefits through unfair leasing of Waqf Board properties between 2018 and 2022, when Mr Khan was chairman of the Waqf Board.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and three complaints from Delhi Police.

According to the agency, a number of “incriminating” materials in the form of physical and digital evidence were seized during the raids, indicating Khan’s involvement in money laundering offences.

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