More trouble is in store for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Amit Rattan Kotfatta after the state forensic laboratory in Mohali confirmed that his voice samples match with the audio recordings in which the MLA and his aide were allegedly demanding a bribe in February.

Punjab vigilance bureau (VB) sources said the voice analysis report of Kotfatta and his associate Rashim Garg was received on Tuesday.

Investigators said the scientific validation of the recordings has helped them make a watertight case against the first-time MLA from Bathinda Rural (reserved) constituency.

Garg was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of ₹4 lakh at the Bathinda Circuit House on February 16.

Officials privy to the investigation said complainant Pritpal Kumar, the husband of Bathinda’s Ghudda village sarpanch Seema Rani, had submitted several recordings to the VB. “These conversations were claimed to be between the MLA and his aide Garg. The complainant had recorded the conversations on his mobile phone and other recording devices as evidence against the duo. Transcripts were made by VB teams in Bathinda and the recordings were sent to the Mohali-based SFL for veracity,” said an official, requesting anonymity.

Investigators said the scientific validation of the recordings has helped them make a watertight case against the first-time MLA from Bathinda Rural (reserved) constituency.

Garg was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of ₹4 lakh at the Bathinda Circuit House on February 16.

Officials privy to the investigation said complainant Pritpal Kumar, the husband of Bathinda’s Ghudda village sarpanch Seema Rani, had submitted several recordings to the VB. “These conversations were claimed to be between the MLA and his aide Garg. The complainant had recorded the conversations on his mobile phone and other recording devices as evidence against the duo. Transcripts were made by VB teams in Bathinda and the recordings were sent to the Mohali-based SFL for veracity,” said an official, requesting anonymity.

Kotfatta has termed the charges of demanding bribery as politically motivated.

Kotfatta held week after aide’s arrest

According to the first information report (FIR) registered by the VB in Bathinda, complainant Pritpal Kumar said Garg invited him to Kotfatta’s residence in Bathinda on February 10 and demanded a bribe of 20% of the development funds granted for Ghudda. “I recorded the conversation when the MLA told me to give him a sum of ₹5 lakh for the release of payments pending for the past several months and quick disbursal of funds for new development projects worth ₹25 lakh. Payments were meant to be paid to firms whose services were used for development works. But the block development and panchayat officer (BDPO) of Sangat was not releasing funds as he was seeking a bribe. The MLA and Garg assured that financial backlog will be cleared after a bribe is paid,” the FIR said.

After initial investigation, the VB arrested Kotfatta on February 23, a week after his aide was caught red-handed.

Had been expelled from SAD, too

Kotfatta was the second AAP legislator to be arrested for alleged involvement in corruption.

In May last year, Vijay Singla, the then health minister, was arrested for demanding 1% commission for a tender.

Punjab horticulture, food processing and defence services welfare minister Fauja Singh Sarari also had to resign from the cabinet in January, four months after an audio clip of a conversation between him and an aide regarding a plan to allegedly “trap” some contractors with the help of government officials to extort money was shared widely on social media.

Kotfatta is lodged in Patiala jail while Garg, a businessman from Samana in Patiala district, is in Bathinda central prison.