"He has been remanded in judicial custody after his arrest," a CBI official said. (Representational)The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested a BJP councillor from Delhi for allegedly taking a bribe to help a man get municipal clearance for construction of his house.
Agency sources said BJP councillor from Vasant Kunj Manoj Mehlawat was arrested while allegedly accepting part of the bribe amount on Thursday evening. Following his arrest, the CBI also conducted searches at his house.
“He has been remanded in judicial custody after his arrest,” a CBI official said.
Sources said the complainant approached the agency alleging that the Councillor was demanding a bribe of Rs 10 lakh to help him get MCD permission to construct a house.
“Accordingly we laid a trap and caught the Councillor allegedly accepting the bribe,” the CBI official said.
The arrest drew a sharp response from the AAP, which termed it as the “feather in the crown of BJP’s corruption”.
AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said Mehlawat’s arrest laid bare the “building mafia” in the three civic bodies controlled by the BJP.
“I am a concerned MLA of Delhi and I am telling you that not a single citizen of Delhi has any option but bribing the BJP-ruled MCD officials to build his or her own house. This collection of money happens in a very coordinated manner. Every area of Delhi has different rates defined by the BJP ruled MCD and the builder mafia,” Bharadwaj said.
He claimed MCD workers and officials from top to bottom receive money as part of the alleged nexus. He further said his party will hold 181 press conferences to expose this alleged corruption.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said the BJP has zero tolerance towards corruption and has suspended the councillor from the party. “We in Delhi BJP do not hesitate in taking action on corruption, unlike the Aam Aadmi Party…”