NEW DELHI, 7 August 2007 — Ashok Malhotra, Delhi’s land scam kingpin who has been on the run for the past five days, was arrested yesterday by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at the studio of Zee News, a private television channel in Noida, near Delhi. Malhotra is accused of grabbing plots meant for slum dwellers and selling them to private parties for a huge profit.
Malhotra, who runs a canteen in Delhi Secretariat apart from other businesses, appeared on Zee News and denied the charges. “I have been framed,” Malhotra claimed.
Denying his links with some Congress leaders, he said: “I am not a political person.” He said he had gone underground fearing for his life and had now offered to surrender on the condition that the CBI interrogated him in the presence of his lawyers.
On reports about his owning 52 cars, Malhotra said he possessed only 17 cars and six motorcycles. It was his “passion” to acquire VIP numbers for his cars, for which legislator Surinder Pal Singh Bittu, who was close to him, helped him, Malhotra said.
Dismissing accusations of having acquired millions of rupees through illegal dealings, he said his property was well documented and was worth not even 100 million rupees ($2.5 million).
As Malhotra made a dramatic appearance at the studio, a CBI team was dispatched from Delhi to arrest him. Malhotra was arrested as soon as he stepped out of the studio and was taken to CBI headquarters for questioning by its anticorruption unit. He is likely to be produced before a court today, CBI sources said.
“The law shall take its own course and the investigation in this scam will be taken to its logical conclusion,” CBI Director Vijay Shankar said. “Investigation is in a very initial stage. No one will be spared. Anybody of any stature found to have played a role would not be spared. All that’s possible is being done to unravel the scam,” Shankar said.
Blaming the CBI for lying about him, Malhotra’s lawyer said: “The CBI has arrested him and will present him in court and we will fight his case”
The CBI raided Malhotra’s house last week and seized several documents and numerous luxury cars. Following Malhotra’s failure to appear before the investigating agency, a special CBI court issued a warrant for his arrest last week.
News of Malhotra’s arrest jolted the Congress party. Names of Delhi Ministers Haroon Yusuf, A.K. Walia and Arvinder Singh Lovely have figured in allegations that they were hatching a plot with Malhotra’s “logistical support” to topple the Delhi government headed by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. Congress President Sonia Gandhi summoned the three ministers yesterday. The meeting followed their having put their side of the story before Ashok Gehlot who is in charge of Congress affairs in Delhi. After the meeting, Gehlot said: “There is no danger to the Delhi government or Congress. I don’t consider this to be of any significance to us.”
Holding Dikshit responsible for the scam, workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took out a protest march on Sunday. They shouted slogans and burned her effigies. BJP leader Harsh Vardhan said: “None of this could have been done without the knowledge of the CM (chief minister), who by signing the request for VIP number plates, has documented her involvement in the scam.”
