New Delhi | Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has summoned Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Akhilesh Pati Tripathi to join the investigation in the MCD ticket sale case. Earlier on Wednesday, the ACB had arrested three people, including a relative of AAP MLA Tripathi, for allegedly selling MCD tickets of Kamla Nagar ward (number 69) for Rs 90 lakh.
Since his name was mentioned by the complainant, Tripathi has been called to join the investigation. He will have to appear before the probe agency by 11 am on Thursday.
The ACB had allegedly arrested AAP MLA Tripathi’s brother-in-law Om Singh and his associates Tripathi’s PA Shiv Shankar Pandey alias Vishal Pandey and Prince Raghuvanshi.
ACB DCP Madhur Verma said, “The accused have been arrested while taking bribe to give MCD election ticket to Shobha Khari, wife of complainant Gopal Khari, from Ward No. 69, Kamla Nagar.”
On November 14, complainant Gopal Khari, a resident of Delhi’s Kamla Nagar, approached the ACB with a ‘complaint’ that he had been associated with AAP since 2014 as an active worker and on November 9 he met Akhilesh’s husband Tripathi and his wife Shobha. Requested to secure corporators ticket for Khari.
The complainant further said that Tripathi demanded a bribe of Rs 90 lakh for the same.
The ACB officer said Khari paid a bribe of Rs 35 lakh to Tripathi and Rs 20 lakh to Rajesh Gupta (MLA Wazirpur) at his behest. Khari assured Tripathi that he would pay the remaining Rs 35 lakh after getting the ticket. Khari’s wife’s name did not figure in the list of councilors contesting elections released by AAP on November 12, as the ticket from her ward was given to someone else.
Thereafter, Om Singh contacted the complainant and assured him that he would be given a ticket in the next election, he said. He also offered to return his money (bribe amount). Khari also produced audio and video recordings of his alleged dealings during the payment and withdrawal.
After receiving the complaint, the ACB formed a team to nab the accused.
On the intervening night of November 15 and 16, the ACB team laid a trap at Khari’s residence, where accused Singh and his associates Pandey and Raghuvanshi were caught red-handed in the presence of independent witnesses when they came to return the bribe amount. Out of the total Rs 35 lakh he received, Rs 33 lakh came from Model Town MLA Tripathi.
“The bribe amount of Rs 33 lakh has been seized. Further investigation of the matter is underway to unearth the entire matter and collect evidence in this regard,” the official said.
