AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan gets interim protection from arrest

“The allegation of the police team that the applicant was instrumental in facilitating the escape of accused Shavez Khan does not seem to carry weight as he (Shavez Khan) was already on anticipatory bail in the case in which allegedly police had gone to arrest him,” he said in the order.

Police alleged that the MLA “pushed and manhandled” officers threatening that action would be taken against them.

Judge Singh asked the police if they had any CCTV footage of the MLA’s alleged intervention in preventing the arrest of Shavez Khan. “Is there any footage? Let the court know what happened,” the judge said.

“Light udd gayi thi (there was no electricity),” came the response from Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Atul Kumar Srivastava.

“We have phones these days… police record every little thing on their devices these days,” the judge responded. “This is going heavily against you. Please take time and get me the complete facts of this case,” he added.

APP Srivastava said it was not the first time Amanatullah had misbehaved with police. “I can show the court what Amanatullah Khan is… he’s habitual in mistreating police officers,” he said.

While granting the MLA interim protection from arrest until the next date of hearing — February 24 — the judge directed him to join the investigation. The judge also directed that the police questioning of him be recorded on a CCTV camera.

Police questioned the MLA at the Jamia Nagar police station on Thursday evening.

The MLA and his supporters have been booked under sections 221 (obstruction of public servants while they are performing their duties), 132 (criminal force or assault against a public servant while they are performing their duties), 121 (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 191 (rioting), 190 (unlawful assembly), 263 (resistance or obstruction to lawful apprehension of another person), 351 (criminal intimidation), and 111 (organised crime) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The FIR against him stated: “… the local MLA, Amanatullah Khan, came there with 20-25 people and said, ‘how dare you come here…’ (He) and his companions pushed and manhandled us and… threatened us… said ‘no one will know where you people have gone and your police and court papers will remain here’.”

In 2018, Shavez Khan and his associates allegedly attacked a group of men near Batla House. As per the FIR in the case, Shavez and a person named Shabbu approached the victims at an empty plot along with four other men. Shavez allegedly fired at the men, who were also attacked with rods.

Police sources said Shavez was arrested but granted conditional bail by a court in 2018, following which he stopped responding to court summonses, prompting the court to declare him a proclaimed offender.