Delhi MCD Election: The Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Delhi government on Wednesday said it has arrested Aam Aadmi Party MLA Akhilesh Pati Tripathi’s brother-in-law and two of his associates for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 90 lakh for a ticket to a party worker’s wife in the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, reported news agency PTI. The trio was arrested under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The incident came to light on Monday after one Gopal Khari approached the probe agency with a complaint, according to an official statement issued by the ACB on Wednesday.
Khari claims to be associated with the Aam Aadmi Party
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According to the complaint, AAP MLA Tripathi had demanded Rs 90 lakh bribe, following which Khari paid Rs 35 lakh to him. He also gave Rs 20 lakh to AAP MLA Rajesh Gupta on Tripathi’s insistence. Khari had told Tripathi that the remaining amount would be paid by him after getting the ticket, the complaint added.
However, on Sunday, Khari said that he did not find his wife’s name in the list of the contesting councillors, and someone else was given a ticket from the ward.
Later, Tripathi’s brother-in-law, Om Singh, contacted Khari and said that the ticket would be given to him in the next elections, and also offered to refund the bribe sum, the complaint read.
The ACB on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday laid a trap at Khari’s residence, where Singh and his associates, namely Shiv Shankar Pandey and Prince Raghuvanshi, were nabbed when they came to return Rs 33 lakh on behalf of Tripathi, as per a PTI report.
Pandey is the personal assistant of AAP MLA Tripathi. Khari also submitted audio and video recordings of his alleged dealings of the bribe, the ACB statement said.