AAP MLA from Okhla arrested, sent to a day's police custody

AAP MLA from Okhla Amantullah Khan was today arrested after a woman accused him of trying to mow her down with his car and repeatedly threatening her following which he was sent to one day’s police custody by a city court.

Khan was arrested after a woman alleged that he tried to mow her down after she visited his residence to raise the issue of power cuts. He is the eleventh AAP legislator to be arrested.

A Punjab Police team tonight arrested AAP MLA Naresh Yadav, who has been booked in connection with the alleged Malerkotla sacrilege incident on June 24. Both the arrests were made in Delhi.

Khan, also the chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board, was first detained for questioning and then arrested, a day after he alleged in a press conference that the woman was “pressurised” by police into giving a false statement against him.

An FIR was initially registered in this regard under section 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of IPC.

“On July 22, the woman had recorded her statement before the magistrate under Section 164 of CrPC. She had alleged while she was returning from the legislator’s residence, a vehicle tried to mow her down and Khan was sitting in it,” said Joint Commissioner of Police, Southeast Range, R P Upadhyay.

The complainant alleged that Khan and few others in the car tried to run her over near Ashoka Park, New Friends Colony. She also stated that a bike tried to hit her on July 22 when she was on her way to the court to get her statement recorded. Based on her statement, Section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of IPC was added, said DCP (South East) Mandeep Singh Randhawa.

“She repeatedly approached the police saying she is feeling unsafe. She was aggrieved that action is not being taken on her complaint and stated the incident of trying to run her over with the car and threats extended to her by Khan,” Randhawa said in a statement.

She gave a complaint at Sarita Vihar police station in which she claimed that she was being threatened and pressured ever since she has registered the case against Khan.

She alleged she lives alone with her children and is feeling very unsafe and that a ‘sting’ video is being circulated by the accused to defame her.

She even threatened to commit suicide, said the officer. Prior to that, she had on July 19 filed a complaint with police alleging that at the AAP MLA’s residence in Jamia Nagar, a youth had on July 10 abused her and threatened that she would be killed if she did not stop politicising the matter. The FIR was subsequently registered in this regard.

Khan was briefly interrogated and arrested and produced before the magistrate’s court in Saket who remanded him in one day’s police custody. Further investigation is being carried out on the basis of the FIR and alleged threats received by the complainant, added DCP(south east).

Reacting to Khan’s arrest, Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “Modi ji arrests one more AAP MLA.” He tweeted in Hindi, “Anandiben in Gujarat sends Dalits and Patidars to jails in false cases, Modiji sends Delhiites to jail in false cases. Delhi and Gujarat will now fight together”.