PANAJI
In a dramatic twist that could upend the Opposition’s campaign against the government over the escape of fugitive Suleman Siddique Khan, a fresh video surfaced on Monday wherein Suleman accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) President Amit Palekar of planning a smear campaign.
In the 1:51-minute video, Suleman recounts his escape and the events leading up to it, stating that he developed friendship with now-dismissed IRB constable Amit Naik during the month he was in the lock-up at Crime Branch (CB), Ribandar.
The accused claimed he had confided in Naik about his multiple cases of land grabbing and other offenses, expressing doubts about getting bail.
Suleman had applied for conditional bail in one of the land grab cases being probed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT – Land Grab) on December 11 with the hearing scheduled on December 13 – the day Suleman and Naik absconded.
“I asked Amit Naik to drop me to Hubli. On December 13, Naik took me on his bike to Hubli. I lied to him about paying him money. I didn’t pay him any money and fled from Hubli,” Suleman says in the video. Naik, after his surrender and subsequent arrest had confessed to the Old Goa police that Suleman promised him Rs 3 crore in return for his escape.
The fugitive further alleges that on December 17, he contacted Palekar to inform him of his escape. According to Suleman, Palekar then urged him to make allegations against ruling party ministers, MLAs, and police officers and to send him video statements.
Suleman, in the video, is then heard saying that Palekar asked him to record a video making allegations against the ruling party and the police.
“I wanted to file a writ in the High Court of Bombay at Goa but Palekar forced me to make those videos. I created 4-5 videos and sent them to Palekar on WhatsApp. He edited and faked... and then made them viral. I never asked him to make the videos viral. I only wanted to file a writ,” he said.
The release of this video coincided with the announcement of Suleman’s arrest from Kerala, creating a political storm.
Reacting to the video thereafter, Palekar -- quizzed by the Old Goa police into the previous viral videos of Suleman -- questioned the new video’s timing and intent.
“Why is the government silent on the veracity of these allegations against me while it earlier questioned the Opposition for believing Suleman’s accusations against the ruling party and police?” Palekar asked as the videos intensified a political war of words with both sides accusing each other of foul play.
