Kejriwal's nephew arrested in PWD scam, AAP-BJP trade charges (Roundup)
New Delhi, May 10 (IANS) The Anti-Corruption Branch on Thursday arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's nephew Vinay Bansal in an alleged scam totalling Rs 6 crore in the Public Works Department (PWD).
Bansal was arrested from his residence in Pitampura in west Delhi in the morning, after he failed to give satisfactory replies on firm Mahadeo Impacts, Special Commissioner of Police and ACB chief Arvind Deep said.
Bansal was later sent in one-day judicial custody on Thursday after he was presented in a Tis Hazari court here. Deep told IANS that Bansal will be presented in court again at 11 a.m. on Friday to seek his police custody.
Informed sources told IANS that Bansal fainted in the court room, but a senior police officer said that he "feigned illness" and was later taken to Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital for a check-up.
Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari sought Kejriwal's resignation over the arrest, while the ruling Aam Aadmi Party hit back by dubbing the arrest a "part of the BJP's vendetta politics".
"Kejriwal has lost all moral right to rule and if he has any morality left then he should resign," Tiwari said.
Vinay Bansal, the son of Kejriwal's late brother-in-law Surender Bansal, was a partner in a firm alleged to be involved in the scam.
"The ACB registered an FIR on May 8, 2017 after a complaint that Surender Bansal got a tender below 46 per cent on behalf of company Renu Construction, on the estimated cost of Rs 4.9 lakh," Deep said.
"It was also mentioned in the complaint that the quality of iron and cement supplied were not up to the mark. During the probe, it was found that iron and cement were brought from Mahadeo Impacts, which was later found to be non-existent. Vinay Bansal was a partner with his father in Mahadeo Impacts," Deep claimed.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that for the last three years, the Delhi Police and the ACB were being used by the Lt Governor and the central government for arresting AAP leaders.
He added that Bansal was doing projects with the Delhi government even before the Kejriwal government came to power and the present case was about a contract Bansal had won before the AAP came to power.
"This is part of a chain of arrests against AAP MLAs," Sisodia said, adding this would be exposed in the court.
"The good thing is that there's justice in this country and when cases go to court it goes against police. Police is asked why you did it," Sisodia said.
Sisodia said that IIT-Roorkee had done a third-party audit as per the terms of the project and submitted a report and the PWD had also said that the work was done well.
"After the complaint, the ACB got a separate inquiry conducted by Sri Ram Labs which also said that the work was satisfactory," Sisodia said.
In May 2017, AAP rebel leader Kapil Mishra raised the issue following a whistleblower's revelations.
Surender Bansal, who ran a company that worked with the PWD for many years, died the same day Mishra raised the issue and filed the complaint.
--IANS
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