New Delhi, July 18 (IANS) A court here Monday sent former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh's close aide Sanjeev Saxena, arrested on bribery charges in connection with the 2008 parliamentary trust vote, to three days' police custody.


Special Judge Sangeeta Dhingra allowed the Crime Branch's plea and posted the matter for Thursday.

“The plea of crime branch is allowed. The accused is sent to police remand for three days,” the court said.

It further directed the police to ensure that Saxena is medically examined before he is sent to police remand.

Saxena was arrested here Sunday, two days after the Supreme Court upbraided the police for tardy investigations into the case.

Saxena has been charged under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Terming the case as a "deep rooted conspiracy", Delhi Police's Crime Branch sought Saxena's custody on three grounds.

“He has to be further interrogated to unearth the conspiracy. His driver Sanjay, who accompanied him when the monetary dealing was done, is also to be arrested... Moreover, his mobile, which was used at the time when the money was delivered, is also to be recovered,” the police said in their plea.

The police also said that till now, Saxena has been giving contradictory statements to mislead the investigation.

On July 22, 2008, three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs brought Rs.1 crore in cash into the Lok Sabha and alleged that the money was paid to them to secure their votes in the trust vote after the Left parties withdrew support to the United Progressive Alliance-I government over the India-US civilian nuclear deal.

The three BJP members were Ashok Argal, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora. The BJP alleged that Saxena was allegedly caught on camera in a sting operation giving money to the three MPs.

They also alleged that it was Saxena who called Amar Singh from his mobile phone and got the three BJP members to talk to him in order to fix a deal.

However, Amar Singh denied any role in the episode and distanced himself from Saxena.