‘Being framed’: Amanatullah Khan in letter to commissioner

The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, dismissed Khan’s claims and accused him of having a history of criminal behaviour

A day after Delhi Police launched raids to arrest Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan for allegedly obstructing police work and aiding a proclaimed offender’s escape, the AAP released a statement saying that the Okhla legislator has written to the police commissioner, claiming he was being “falsely implicated” and had not fled.

Police personnel outside the residence of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in New Delhi on Monday. (PTI)

The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, dismissed Khan’s claims and accused him of having a history of criminal behaviour and said that this time his action will “cost him dearly”.

The AAP shared Khan’s letter on Wednesday, in which he stated, “I am in my legislative assembly. I have not run away anywhere. Some officers of Delhi Police are implicating me in a false case. The person they came to arrest is out on bail. He showed the papers, yet the police are trying to cover up their mistake by falsely implicating me.”

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said, “Amanatullah Khan is a man of criminal character. Many cases have been filed against him before, and he has repeatedly played with the law. But this time, it will cost him dearly. He has tried to protect a murder accused, and the law will take its course. We demand the harshest punishment for such people.”

On Tuesday, Delhi Police said they were conducting raids to arrest Khan in connection with charges of obstructing police, aiding a fugitive, and attacking a police team in southeast Delhi’s Jamia Nagar.

Khan has been booked under sections for 191 (rioting), 111 (organised crime), 190 (unlawful assembly), 221 (obstructing police work), 121 (1) and 132 (voluntarily causing hurt and assault to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 262 (b) (obstruction by person to lawful apprehension of another person) and 351 (3) (criminal intimidation).

In the letter written to police on Wednesday, Khan claimed he had learned from media reports that a “fake and baseless” FIR had been filed against him, based on “twisted facts.”

Khan says that the FIR is politically motivated with an aim to ruin his reputation. Khan has demanded an independent investigation into the matter.

The FIR was registered against Khan on Monday after a Delhi Police crime branch team attempted to arrest Shahbaz Khan, a man wanted in a 2018 attempted murder and Arms Act case in Jamia Nagar. Police said Shahbaz had fired at a man, leaving him severely injured. However, they alleged that Amanatullah Khan and his associates intervened and facilitated Shahbaz’s escape.

According to the FIR, Amanatullah Khan and 20-25 of his supporters confronted the police team outside Shahbaz’s house in Jamia Nagar.

“MLA Amanatullah Khan, along with his associates, approached us and said, ‘How dare you come here?’ We identified ourselves as crime branch officers and showed them our ID cards and a court order declaring Shahbaz a proclaimed offender, but they refused to listen. Amanatullah snatched a head constable’s ID card, and he and his associates started pushing and attacking us,” the complaint stated. The FIR is lodged on the basis of a complaint of a police officer at Jamia Nagar police station.

The FIR further alleges that Khan threatened the officers.

Khan did not respond to calls and messages, and his phone remained switched off.

A senior Delhi Police officer said that contradictory to Khan’s claims, the accused was not out on bail, but a proclaimed offender that they had been looking for. Another officer part of the investigating team said that the last location of the accused’s phone was in Rajasthan.

“Multiple raids at different locations are being conducted. We will send a notice to Amanatullah Khan to join the investigation officially,” Ravi Kumar Singh, DCP (east), said.