This Article is From Jul 21, 2011

Cash-for-votes scam: Amar Singh to be questioned tomorrow, say sources

Cash-for-votes scam: Amar Singh to be questioned tomorrow, say sources
New Delhi: Former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh will be questioned in connection with the cash-for-votes scandal at 11 am tomorrow, sources have said.

The sources also told NDTV that Delhi Police have got permission to question BJP MP Ashok Argal and the Samajwadi Party's Revati Raman Singh in the case.

Earlier today, two men accused in the case, Sanjeev Saxena and Suhail Hindustani, were remanded to police custody till Friday.

Mr Hindustani was allegedly the middleman who offered three BJP MPs a crore to support Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's UPA 1 government during a trust vote in July 2008. He was questioned by the police for six hours before he was arrested; sources say he told the Delhi Police that he was acting on behalf of Amar Singh. In 2008, Mr Singh was a senior leader of the Samajwadi Party (SP), which had offered outside support to the UPA at the Centre.

The police remand report for Mr Hindustani reportedly says that, "No leader of the Congress or the Samajwadi Party made any effort to contact Mr Hindustani to strike a deal."

The police remand report has reportedly revealed that Mr Hindustani tried to contact various people in attempt to strike that deal. He allegedly contacted an IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, SP Gupta - who is now retired - and told him that he had three BJP MPs who could strike a deal with Congress leaders to vote in favour of the UPA government.

The sources said Mr Gupta reportedly refused to be part of any such illegal activity.

Mr Hindustani then reportedly requested Mr Gupta to facilitate a meeting with former Congress leader Buta Singh's son Lovely Singh and another man, Aman Arora, which Mr Gupta reportedly did, the sources said.

The sources claimed that Mr Hindustani met Mr Singh and Mr Arora at Claridges Hotel in Delhi and made the same offer - that he could get three BJP MPs to vote for the government. Lovely Singh and Aman Arora too said no, the sources said.

Failing to strike a deal with the Congress, Mr Hindustani then allegedly tried to rope in Samajwadi Party leaders, contacting Rewati Raman Singh.

Over the weekend, the police also arrested Sanjeev Saxena, who was allegedly an aide of Mr Singh's. He has reportedly been caught on hidden camera offering money to the MPs. The cameras were provided by a private TV channel which had been asked, reportedly by the BJP, to conduct an expose on the UPA's attempts to bribe MPs for the trust vote.

The cash for votes scam exploded hours ahead of the trust vote on July 22, 2008, when three MPs - Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora - walked into the Lok Sabha waving bundles of cash.

Last week, the Supreme Court criticised the Delhi Police for not making any progress in its inquiry to determine who wanted to buy the support of the BJP MPs.
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