AAP MLA from Punjab’s Bathinda Rural seat Amit Rattan Kotfatta has been arrested in a bribery case by the Vigilance Bureau, a top official said on Thursday. The legislator’s arrest comes days after his alleged close aide Rashim Garg was nabbed by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in the same case.

Kotfatta has been arrested, a top official of the bureau told the media. The MLA was nabbed from Rajpura on Wednesday evening and has now been arrested, said the officer. He will be produced in a court on Thursday to seek his remand, the official added.

Rashim Garg: The Bribe Collector

“It is quite clear that the aide [Rashim Garg] collected the bribe on his behalf,” said an official, who did not want to be named.

Rashim Garg was arrested on February 16 following a complaint lodged by the husband of a Ghuda village head in Bathinda who alleged that the accused was demanding a bribe of Rs 5 lakh in lieu of releasing a government grant of Rs 25 lakh.

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Garg was caught with Rs 4 lakh cash by a team of the Vigilance Bureau in Bathinda. Kotfatta had earlier denied having any association with Garg. He had accused the opposition parties of trying to defame the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab.

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A Plot To Malign The AAP Government

In a video he released on his Facebook page on February 16, AAP MLA Kotfatta referred to Garg’s arrest as a plot to discredit the AAP administration.

In his complaint, Kumar said that Kotfatta had called him to his Bathinda home, where they reportedly requested 20% of the development funding for Ghudda.

When Kotfatta asked him for 5 lakh to release payments that had been delayed for months and rapid disbursal of cash for new development projects worth 25 lakh, Kumar stated that he recorded their preservation. “Money was intended to be paid to businesses whose services were utilized for different types of development projects. But, Sangat Rajneesh’s block development and panchayat official was holding onto funds because he was looking for a bribe.