Amar Singh, two former BJP MPs sent to jail in cash-for-votes case

Uttar Pradesh politician and Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh and two Bharatiya Janata Party former MPs have been imprisoned over the 1998 cash-for-votes scandal in an eventful day at a special Delhi court.

Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal remanded Amar Singh as well as Fagan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Singh Bhagora in judicial custody till 19 September.

Amar Singh, wearing a cream kurta-pyjama outfit, reportedly looked shocked when he heard the verdict.

Earlier in the day, he had sought to excuse himself from appearing before the court on grounds of illness; but later changed his mind when the judge demanded to be shown his medical papers, and was driven to court.

After the verdict, he was whisked away by policemen. He would probably be lodged in Tihar Jail, along with some of his 'fellow-conspirators' and a host of others indicted in various scams, including DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi over the '2G scam' and former Indian Olympic Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi in the Commonwealth Games scam.

Dismissing the interim bail pleas of the trio, the judge said, "The application is at a prerequisite stage to decide. Let the prosecution file replies."