In the second arrest of an AAP lawmaker in a month causing more embarrassment to Delhi's ruling party, its MLA Manoj Kumar was today held in connection with a cheating and land grabbing case and remanded by a court in two days' police custody even as his party accused the BJP-ruled Centre of "vendetta" politics.
35-year-old Kumar, MLA from Kondli Kumar in East Delhi, was arrested in connection with a subsequent FIR filed against him on May 19, 2014, on a complaint of cheating lodged by New Ashok Nagar resident Vijay Kumar.
Kumar was first questioned in connection with the case and later arrested. Later, a court remanded him in two-day police custody.
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He is the second AAP law maker to be arrested. On June 9, the then Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar was arrested on charges of possessing fake degrees. Tomar had later resigned from the Cabinet and has been in judicial custody.
Police said Kumar had sold a plot to complainant Vijay for Rs six lakh in November 2012 but later, he came to know that the land did not belong to the MLA.
The AAP came down hard on the Centre for arrest of the MLA accusing it of using Delhi Police as a "political weapon" and said and the party is prepared to face the challenge.
AAP spokesperson Deepak Bajpai accused the Centre of resorting to "political vendetta" and wondered why no action was taken in the Vyapam scandal even when so many deaths have taken place in the case. The BJP said the arrest once again "exposed" the AAP.
Police said Vijay had alleged in his complaint that Manoj and one Lakhpat who ran a property dealing business in the name of Sapna Real Estates in Mayur Vihar, Phase-III, had contacted him for selling a 46 sq yard land property at Rajvir Colony in village Gharoli Majra, claiming it to be owned by him.
As per the FIR, the land deal was finalised at a price of Rs 21.60 lakh and later the complainant entered into an agreement on stamp papers and paid an advance of Rs 6 lakh.
It said Vijay further alleged that when the property was not registered in his name by the given time he contacted Manoj.
The complainant said first Manoj made excuses and later browbeat him by saying that he was an MLA of AAP and he had no time for people like him. At the time of the deal, Manoj was not an MLA.
