Cash-for-vote scam: Middleman points finger at Sonia Gandhi, PM

Delhi police on Wednesday made the second arrest in the cash-for-vote scam, taking into custody Sohail Hindustani who acted as middlemen between Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh and BJP MPs who sought to be bribed.

Hindustani, who calls himself a BJP Yuva Morcha member, was questioned for seven hours on Wednesday. He will be produced in court on Thursday.

On Sunday, Sanjeev Saxena, an alleged aide of Amar Singh, was arrested for allegedly delivering the cash to three BJP MPs.

Before the questioning, Hindustani tried to drag the prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi into the scandal. He said he would tell the police whatever he had told the parliamentary committee probing the scam. He alleged Amar Singh told him that he was working on the PM’s directions along with Congress’s Ahmed Patel to save the government.

“I received calls from Amar Singh and Ahmed Patel. Those close to PM called me even from 10 Janpath. People could not believe that Manmohan Singh and the Congress could stoop to this level,” Hindustani said.

He asked the police to examine the records of his calls between July 9 and 22 in 2008.

“I challenge them. These people tried to bribe me. They asked me why are you aligned with BJP? Is your life going haywire? Come, align with us and we will give you some big posts like chairmanship. They told me that if you get one MP, we will give you Rs5-10 crore as commission,” Hindustani said.