ED arrests AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in connection with money laundering case

Earlier in the day, ED officials searched his residence in Okhla. “An ED team has reached my house to arrest me,” the AAP’s Okhla MLA posted on his X account (formerly Twitter) at 6.30 am.

At 7.43 am, Khan posted a video on X, saying an “ED team has come to arrest me on the pretext of a search”. “My mother-in-law is a cancer patient; she was operated on four days ago. She is also at my home. I had informed the ED about this. They have been harassing me for two years, slapping false cases. They are harassing our party (AAP). Their objective is to break our party. I appeal to the people of Okhla to pray for me and I promise that we will get all your work done. Don’t worry, we will not get scared,” he said in the video.

In another video, an elderly woman was seen lying on the bed as Khan asked a man at his door why the officials were there when he had sought four weeks to appear before the ED. “My mother-in-law has had surgery,” he said. The man at the door asked why he thought they were there to arrest him. Khan said, “Why else are you here?” A woman, purportedly Khan’s wife, then said, “What are you looking for in a three-room house… If something happens to my mother, I will take you to court.”

In the evening, he was produced before Rouse Avenue court.

While requesting 10-day custody of Khan, Special Public Prosecutor Manish Jain, representing the ED, said 14 summons were issued to the accused, but he appeared only once before the agency. The ED also suggested the likelihood of destruction of evidence, stating that Khan alleged he didn’t have a phone.

Jain also referred to a Supreme Court order which denied Khan anticipatory bail in relation to the case. “Khan was orchestrating the scam through his close associates and real estate intermediaries. We need to investigate him to confront some materials and statements of other co-accused persons,” Jain submitted.

On the other hand, senior advocate Vikram Chaudhari appearing for Khan, questioned the necessity to arrest the accused. “The power to arrest can’t be on the whims and fancies of the officer. Material can’t be picked and chosen to hold the accused guilty. There are 10 materials which exonerate me,” he said, adding that no money had been recovered from Khan.

Advocate Rajat Bharadwaj, also representing Khan, said there was nothing to show that the MLA was connected with the materials in possession of the agency.

The ED had also earlier filed a prosecution complaint in the matter against five entities, including four alleged associates of Khan who were arrested by the agency in November last year. Khan was not named as an accused in the chargesheet.