Amanatullah moves HC challenging arrest

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan approached the Delhi High Court on Tuesday challenging his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the waqf board here during his chairmanship.

His petition is likely to be listed for hearing later this week. Khan was arrested on September 2 under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), after the ED conducted a search at his Okhla residence here. He is in judicial custody till September 23. The money laundering case against Khan stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR and three Delhi Police complaints.

The ED has named five people in its prosecution complaint (equivalent of a charge sheet) that included three alleged associates of Khan -- Zeeshan Haider, Daud Nasir and Jawed Imam Siddiqui.

The search was conducted in the case related to alleged illegal recruitment of staff and “illegitimate” personal gains made by the accused by way of “unfairly” leasing Delhi Waqf Board properties during 2018-2022 when Khan was its chairperson, the ED said. Several “incriminating” material in the form of physical and digital evidence were seized during the raid, indicating Khan’s involvement in the offence of money laundering, the ED has said.

The central agency, which had earlier also conducted raids on the premises of the legislator, has claimed that Khan acquired “huge proceeds of crime” in cash through illegal recruitment of staff in the Delhi Waqf Board and invested the money to purchase immovable assets in the name of his associates.