New Delhi (The Hawk): Gopal Khari, the complainant in the MCD ticket selling case, was referred to by AAP MLA Akhilesh Pati Tripathi on Thursday as a "agent" who is involved in 50 cases and has implicated at least 10 people in rape cases.
"He is a party to 50 cases. He had assaulted his own relatives and was blackmailing a DDA Director-level official. He claimed that Gopal Khari is the one who has falsely accused at least ten people of rape.
Tripathi was contacted to join the investigation while he was speaking to the media at the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) office.
He called the accusations "vague" and added, "Om Singh is also not my relative. Regarding his brother-in-law, he clarified, "My wife's last name is Pandey.
Currently being questioned by the ACB team is senior officials.
Testimonies and digital evidence gathered during the investigation are being shown to him.
The ACB detained Prince Raghuvanshi, Om Singh, Shiv Shankar Pandey alias Vishal Pandey, and another person on Wednesday for allegedly trying to sell Kamla Nagar Ward (No. 69) MCD tickets for Rs 90 lakh.
They were detained in accordance with sections 171 (E) of the IPC and 7/13 of the POC Act.
Madhur Verma, the DCP ACB, stated that the suspects were detained "for accepting bribes for giving AAP ticket of MCD election to Shobha Khari, wife of the complainant Gopal Khari, for Ward No. 69, Kamla Nagar."
The MLA has been called to the pobe after the complainant mentioned him.
Gopal Khari, a resident of Kamla Nagar, filed a complaint with the ACB on November 14 claiming that he had been actively involved with the AAP since 2014 and had met Tripathi on November 9 to ask for a council seat for his wife Shobha Khari.
The complainant added that Tripathi demanded a Rs 90 lakh bribe in exchange for the same.
"At Khari's request, he gave Tripathi a bribe of Rs 35 lakh and Rs 20 lakh to Rajesh Gupta (MLA Wazirpur). Khari assured Tripathi that he would pay the remaining 35 lakh once he received the ticket. Khari could not locate his wife's name in the party's list of council members running for election on November 12.
"Om Singh then got in touch with the complainant and gave him the assurance that he would get the ticket for the upcoming elections. He also offered to give him his cash back (bribe amount). According to the ACB official, Khari also provided audio and video recordings of his alleged interactions during the payment and return of the bribe money.
The ACB put together a team of its top officials to find the accused after receiving the complaint. They set up a trap at Khari's house on the nights of November 15 and 16, and in the presence of impartial witnesses, Singh and his accomplices Pandey and Raghuvanshi were caught in the act. They had gone to return the 33 lakh rupees of the 35 lakh rupees in bribes that had been paid on Tripathi's behalf.
"The 33 lakh rupee bribe has been confiscated. The official stated that the case is still being investigated.
(Inputs from Agencies)