Punjab AAP MLA Amit Rattan Kotfatta arrested in bribery case

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 (February 23).

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 was quoted as saying by PTI.

Also read: CBI searches against Punjab AAP MLA over Rs 40-crore bank fraud

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 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 ₹5 lakh in lieu of releasing a government grant of ₹25 lakh.

Garg was caught with ₹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.

(With agency inputs)