Amar Singh’s aide arrested

After being told to pull up their socks by the Supreme Court, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police finally arrested Sanjeev Saxena, indicted in the cash for vote scam, on Sunday.

Amar Singh's aide arrested

After being told to pull up their socks by the Supreme Court, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police finally arrested Sanjeev Saxena, indicted in the cash for vote scam, on Sunday.

Who wants it? TV grab of the furore in Lok Sabha. file pic

Saxena, a close aide of former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, had allegedly tried to bribe BJP MPs during the UPA government's trust vote in 2008.

The Delhi Police's tardy investigation regarding the 2008 cash-for-vote scam came under severe criticism on Friday, when the Supreme Court questioned why no custodial interrogation had been conducted so far.

Money matters
The incident had taken the Lok Sabha by storm on July 22, 2008, when some BJP MPs brought Rs 1 crore in the House, alleging the money was given to them by the UPA government. The allegation was levelled by the then BJP MPs, Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora. They said Saxena personally delivered the money at Argal's Ferozshah Road residence, hours before the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha.

The MPs further claimed the ruling combine wanted to secure their support in the No-Confidence motion, as the Left parties had withdrawn their support over the Indo-US nuclear deal issue.

More to come
The MPs also claimed that not only Saxena was caught on camera while offering the bribe, he also called Amar Singh from his mobile phone and got the three MPs to talk to him to fix a deal. As of now, Singh has denied any association with Saxena.

Swinging into action after the Court's stern criticism, Saxena was arrested from Delhi. "He will be produced in court on Monday. At present, he is being interrogated," said Ashok Chand, DCP, Crime and Railways.

The Court was hearing a petition filed by former Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh, seeking directions to the government to take action against politicians involved in the scam.