Other States - New Delhi   

Tokas' wife blames area MLA

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI APRIL 11. The wife of Hiren Tokas -- the R.K.Puram councillor who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation early this week on charges of accepting bribes -- today asserted that her husband was innocent, alleging that he was trapped by the CBI at the behest of the area MLA, Ashok Singh.

Mr. Singh, however, was not available for comment as he was away in Baraut due to a bereavement in the family.

The charges were made by Sharmila Tokas at a press conference here along with her brother-in-law, Nalin Tokas, and father-in-law, Choudhary Sukhbir Singh Tokas. She alleged that a fortnight after the municipal elections last year, Mr. Singh started demanding Rs. 30 lakhs from her husband claiming credit for his ticket and victory.

``Every day my husband received calls from Mr. Singh asking for the money as he had to give it to senior party leaders. My husband expressed his inability to pay such a huge amount as we are from a middle-class family. He also advised my husband on how to collect money from the builders in the area, which he refused. Soon we started receiving threatening and abusive calls from him. Even today I received a threat call from Ghaziabad asking me not to hold the press conference,'' she said.

``We were expecting something like this from Mr. Singh. This is why my brother had written several letters in this regard with documentary evidences to the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president, Subhash Chopra, the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, and other senior party leaders. He had also written to the Delhi Lieutenant-Governor, Vijai Kapoor,'' Nalin Tokas asserted.

They claimed that Hiren Tokas was trapped by the CBI outside the residence of senior party leader, R. K. Dhawan, where he had gone to meet him along with other Councillors. "As he came out, a person on the pretext of touching his feet put Rs. 20,000 in his pocket. This was objected. While my brother was taking out the notes from his pocket, he was arrested by the CBI sleuths who had laid a trap,'' he alleged.

The family members alleged that the person who had lodged a complaint with the CBI was running a roadside hotel at R. K. Puram Sector-5.

"The hotel has encroached upon public land and the local residents had made a complaint to Hiren Tokas against this hotel following which my brother wrote to the competent authorities for taking necessary action,'' he said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Some brand new radio channels for you
• No egg curry for MCD school students
• 'Councillor's arrest damages party image'
• Tokas' wife blames area MLA
• Two independent Councillors join Congress
• Plan to upgrade Burari vehicle inspection centre

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu