In connection with an ongoing investigation into money laundering, a team from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) showed up at the residence of Amanatullah Khan, the MLA for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), on Monday morning.
The Delhi Waqf Board chairman, Khan, is accused of financial misbehaviour and illegal recruiting. He posted on social media, claiming that “ED people have just arrived at my house to arrest me.”
A sizable number of Delhi Police and paramilitary troops was positioned outside Khan’s residence in Okhla, the district he represents in the Delhi Assembly, as the ED team carried out their search. Images from the area showed police going through paperwork and other items, while the roads leading to Khan’s house were heavily guarded.
Khan claimed in a social media video that he and other AAP leaders were being targeted by the government in reaction to the raid.
“Just this morning, on the orders of the dictator, his puppet ED has reached my house. The dictator is leaving no stone unturned to harass me and AAP leaders. Is it a crime to serve the people honestly? How long will this dictatorship last?” Khan said.
AAP leaders swiftly came together in support of Amanatullah Khan, denouncing the activities of the ED and vowing to have the leader taken into custody. Sanjay Singh, an AAP MP, claimed on X that Khan was being singled out because of a political grudge held by the BJP.
“Look at the cruelty of ED @KhanAmanatullah first he joined the ED investigation, then asked for time for further time, his mother in law has cancer, she has undergone an operation, they reached the house early in the morning to raid. There is no evidence against @KhanAmanatullah but both Modi’s dictatorship and ED’s hooliganism continue,” said Singh.
“This is the only work left for ED,” tweeted Manish Sisodia, the former deputy chief minister of Delhi who was just freed on bail in the liquor policy case. Suppress all criticism of the BJP expressed. Shatter it. Arrest and imprison any who refuse to submit or give up.”
The allegations in the ED’s case against Khan centre on his alleged use of illicit tactics to obtain financial profits between 2018 and 2022 through unlawful staff recruitment and unfair Waqf Board property leasing.
Khan was questioned by the investigation team for more than 12 hours in the past regarding this issue, and they asserted that he received “huge proceeds of crime” in cash as a result of his illicit actions. It claims that Khan used these earnings to buy real estate under his associates’ names.
The Delhi High Court denied Khan anticipatory relief earlier this year in March, citing his pattern of dodging agency summonses. He had also been refused protection from arrest by the Supreme Court.
