Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): Former SP MLA from Uttar Pradesh's Malihabad and current Congress leader Indal Rawat was on Thursday arrested by Gomti Nagar police in a fraud case, police said.
Rawat was called for questioning in connection with the FIR registered in February, to Gomti Nagar Police Station where he was formally arrested later, Gomti Nagar police station in-charge Deepak Pandey said. The complaint Rajesh Pandey had lodged the FIR against the former MLA in Gomti Nagar police station in February 2024.
Gomti Nagar police station in-charge Deepak Pandey said that the complainant Rajesh Pandey, a resident of Gomti Nagar Extension, is the managing director of Raj Infra Housing Private Limited. He had lodged an FIR against former Malihabad MLA Indal Kumar Rawat at Gomti Nagar police station on 21 February 2024. In his complaint, Pandey said that in August 2014, Indal Rawat had made a builder agreement with him to build a 6-storey building on 1 bigha 15 biswa land provided by Rawat located in Sabauli Sadar, in which many flats were to be built with the share fixed at 58 and 42 percent share between Pandey and Indal. Pandey said that according to the agreement, he gave Rawat Rs 2.52 crore to Rawat as the first instalment. However, when Pandey went to get NOC from Awas Vikas to build on the land, he came to know that the land he bought from Rawat and was undertaking the construction is a state land and had been registered by Ashiana Cooperative Housing Society in the year 1991, Pandey said. He said that the registry done by Indal Rawat in the year 2010 had been canceled by the authorities.
The complainant said that after coming to know about the matter, he reached the former MLA and asked for his money back. But, the former MLA said that he will get the papers corrected and there had been some mistake on part of the authorities, Pandey said. But, from then till December 2023, Indal Rawat neither got the papers corrected nor returned the money, he said. Pandey alleged that Indal asked the complainant to forget his money and threatened to kill him prompting him to approach the police and the court. The court had directed police to register FIR into the matter.
Indal Rawat has been an MLA from Malihabad seat as Samajwadi Party candidate. In 2022, he left SP and joined the Congress. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he was made in-charge of Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat. Indal played an important role in the campaign of Rahul Gandhi, who went on to win the seat.
