Highlighting the deteriorating law and order situation in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday said its legislators have been receiving extortion threats from gangsters since June 20.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said a caller identifying himself as Vicky Brar alias Vicky Cobra has made calls to the party’s Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha and Ambedkar Nagar MLA Ajay Dutt demanding ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh as protection money. At the press conference, Mr. Singh also played an audio recording of the extortion call in which the caller said he was an associate of incarcerated gangster Neeraj Bawana.
“We are not afraid of such threats but scared about what the common man goes through when MLAs are not safe,” Mr. Jha said.
A senior police officer said separate FIRs have been registered in connection with the calls received by the two MLAs and the Delhi Police’s Special Cell is probing the cases.
‘Ploy to get VIP security’
Reacting to the allegations, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said Delhi Police should act on the complaints but added that it seemed like a “ploy by AAP” to get VIP security for its MLAs.
“It is surprising that AAP, which used to oppose security cover to political leaders, is today very anxious to get it for its leaders. People want to know that if AAP MLAs are honest and working in public interest then from whom are they facing threats,” he said.
‘Lawlessness’ in Capital
Mr. Singh said law and order in Delhi came under the ambit of the Ministry of Home Affairs and accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of doing little to control “lawlessness” in the Capital.
The AAP leader said the city had been witness to “several incidents of gang wars” over the last couple of weeks, and killings and attempts to murder on the premises of courts. He said that the party’s MLAs had so far received 24 extortion calls from gangsters, threatening them and their family members.
“On June 20, three-time elected AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha received a phone call and was asked for ₹10 lakh by 12 p.m. the next day and was told that if he did not adhere to the threat, his life as well as that of his family will be under threat. On June 22, our Ambedkar Nagar MLA Ajay Dutt received a call and was asked for ₹5 lakh,” Mr. Singh said.
“When Sanjeev Jha received the extortion call from an unknown person, we met the Delhi Police Commissioner and filed an FIR in the matter and were informed that the case would be sent to the Special Cell. Despite this, another AAP MLA received an extortion call from the same person,” the MP said.
The threats were issued to both MLAs via WhatsApp from the same phone number, he added.
(With inputs from PTI)
