Waqf Board Scam: AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan Arrested by ED Following Raid on His Residence

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Monday over alleged irregularities in appointments to the Delhi Waqf Board and the leasing of its properties. His arrest came after a dramatic raid by the agency at his Delhi residence earlier in the day. In a video statement shared on X, Khan accused the ED of acting insensitively, noting that the raid had distressed his mother-in-law, who had recently undergone cancer surgery the previous week.

Amanatullah Khan claimed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrived under the guise of a search to arrest him. He explained that his mother-in-law, a cancer patient who had surgery just four days ago, was present in his home, and that he had informed the ED of her condition.

Footage from the raid showed an elderly woman lying in bed as Khan addressed a man, possibly an ED officer, asking for a four-week reprieve. The officer responded, “Why do you think we are here to arrest you?” to which Khan retorted, “Then why are you here?”

A woman, possibly Khan’s wife, questioned the necessity of the search, stating, “What is there to search in a three-room house? Why do you turn my home upside down every time?” She added, “My mother has cancer and just had surgery. If anything happens to her, I will take you to court. She can’t even stand.”

Meanwhile, Khan dismissed the charges against him, accusing the ED of “harassing me for two years, filing false cases, and causing trouble.” He further claimed that the agency was targeting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), saying, “They want to break our party, but we will not be intimidated.” Khan represents the Okhla constituency in Delhi.

Amanatullah Khan has become the fourth prominent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader to be arrested by a central agency since former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s arrest in February of last year. Other AAP leaders arrested include Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Sisodia and Kejriwal were both arrested by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam. Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia have since been granted bail, with Sisodia securing his release last month after nearly 18 months in jail. The Supreme Court had described his extended imprisonment without trial or any prospect of one soon as a “travesty of justice.”

Meanwhile, Kejriwal remains in custody. Although he obtained bail in the ED case, he now faces another bail battle following a last-minute arrest by the CBI.

Both Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia have strongly criticized the Enforcement Directorate (ED) following Amanatullah Khan’s arrest, highlighting that the agency has been “repeatedly reprimanded by the Supreme Court for conducting investigations with malice.”

“Despite this, the ED raided the home of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan early in the morning, even though his mother-in-law is battling cancer and recently had surgery,” Singh stated forcefully. He also condemned the agency for acting hastily in a six-year-old case where the CBI has yet to make any arrests.