Former SP leader Amar Singh was 'fully aware' of the conspiracy that the then BJP MPs were being bribed to abstain from voting in the 2008 trust vote in Lok Sabha but didn’t inform the law enforcement agencies.
His arrest on Tuesday indicates the crime branch may widen its investigation to scrutinise roles of all the people including the top BJP leaders who were aware about the bribing process and more arrests may follow in coming days.
A top crime branch official said the investigations are suggesting that Mr Singh became part of the conspiracy hatched by Suhail Hindustani to 'earn favours for himself' rather than acting at the behest of some political leader.
"Hindustani was the master orchestrater of this scam. Amar Singh was only trying to demonstrate his skills by playing an active role in the whole affair," the official said.
The evidence gathered against him includes the statement of his former aide Sanjeev Saxena and Suhail Hindustani, the BJP functionary, that they collected the cash offered to former BJP MPs Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Singh Bhagora from Mr Singh’s residence on July 21.
This, along with the technical and circumstantial evidence, and the footage recorded by a news channel, which purportedly shows Hindustani and Saxena emerging from Singh’s house on July 21 with bags filled with money, suggest he was involved.
Health concerns
Meanwhile, Singh’s associates maintain that his health condition is genuinely poor.
"This year alone Mr Singh has been to Singapore a couple of times for regular checkups and was again set to go there in a day or two. He just has one donor kidney and is under intensive medication, including immunosuppressive drugs, and has been advised to be cautious of infection,” a source close to Mr Singh said.
He added that Mr Singh is also a diabetic and takes about 25 tablets a day for various ailments.