AAP MLA sent to one-day judicial custody in case of alleged cheating and land-grabbing

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday sent AAP MLA Manoj Kumar, arrested in a case of alleged cheating and land-grabbing, to judicial custody for a day. [caption id=“attachment_2340530” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Metropolitan Magistrate Richa Parihar sent Kumar, MLA from Kondli in East Delhi, to Tihar Jail till Tuesday, when his bail application would be heard. On 11 July, the court had sent Kumar to two days police custody after the special public prosecutor Anupam Sharma sought extension of his custody by five days, saying sustained interrogation was needed in the case as he was required to be taken to his village in Bulanshahar district of Uttar Pradesh to make recoveries of items like stamps and documents. Kumar’s counsel had contended in court that the whole case was fabricated and only intended to malign him. He had also alleged that manipulation was being done at the behest of some people and there was a hidden motive behind all this. The AAP leader was arrested on 9 July for allegedly selling a plot for Rs six lakh in November 2012 to complainant Vinod, who later came to know that the land did not belong to the legislator. The police had argued before the court that the “fake” document claims Kumar to be the owner of the property and the deal was finalised at Rs 21 lakh but the real owner of the plot was one Chandrakala, who has given a statement to the police saying the property was never sold to Kumar. Kumar is the second law-maker of AAP to be arrested. On 9 June, then Law Minister Jitender Singh Tomar was arrested on charges of possessing fake degrees. He had later resigned from the Cabinet and has been in judicial custody. Police said Kumar’s was an old case relating to alleged land fraud which was registered against him last year. A case of cheating was registered against Kumar following allegations that he duped his business partner Vinod of Rs six lakh. Vinod had alleged in his complaint to the police that Kumar used to work as a property dealer before venturing into politics. Vinod claimed that he was Kumar’s business partner and had given Rs six lakh to him to purchase a plot in November 2012 but the property did not belong to him. PTI