By IANS
New Delhi : After facing a backlash for providing fancy car numbers to Ashok Malhotra, alleged kingpin of a multi million-rupee land scam, the state government Monday decided to top issuing such number plates with immediate effect.
“A ban on registration of fancy numbers of vehicles under the Vehicle Registration Act has been put in place till a new policy is finalized by the government,” Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said after a cabinet meeting.
According to party sources, the decision was taken after some Congress leaders were said to have allegedly helped Malhotra to acquire VIP numbers for his fleet of luxury cars and motorcycles.
Malhotra, who was arrested earlier in the day from outside a private TV channel studio, had admitted to his close links with state legislators Surender Singh Bittu and Kanwar Karan Singh.
“They (Bittu and Singh) are good friends and helped me in acquiring the VIP numbers for my cars,” he told the channel during an interview.
The snack vendor-turned multi millionaire Malhotra had allegedly siphoned off millions of rupees in association with five Delhi Development Authority (DDA) officials and a private contractor by selling plots of land meant for displaced slum-dwellers at exorbitant prices.
During its raids on his home in Mukherjee Nagar last week, the CBI claimed to have found several incriminating documents related to the land scam, Rs.1.7 million in cash, seven kg of gold and at least 50 luxury cars and 10 motorcycles – all bearing fancy number plates.