Extortion case: AAP MLA to be produced in court today, cops may seek remand

AAP MLA Naresh Balyan, who was arrested on Saturday in a year-old extortion case and for his alleged links with a gangster, will be produced before a Delhi court on Sunday and the crime branch unit of the Delhi Police may seek police remand for him.
Balyan, who represents Uttam Nagar in west Delhi, was arrested hours after the BJP released an audio clip in which the AAP legislator was purportedly heard instructing gangster Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu to threaten and extort ransom from a Delhi builder and other people.
The crime branch had received an audio of a conversation with Nandu, who fled from India and is based in London.
Balyan was first detained by the crime branch for questioning at its office in south Delhi’s RK Puram and later arrested.
Sources in the crime branch earlier told India Today TV that Balyan was arrested as he was not cooperating during the initial questioning.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia accused Balyan of indulging in criminal activities with the approval of party chief Arvind Kejriwal. Bhatia also demanded suspension of the MLA.
“AAP MLA Naresh Balyan in a conversation with a gangster. The gangster asks why the AAP leader has filed a complaint against him. Balyan replies that he was being blackmailed by the gangster and his goons. The gangster responds that he would make some recording of Balyan viral, listening to which the MLA flips and starts singing like a canary,” the BJP tweeted, sharing the purported audio clip of him.
The AAP defended Balyan, claiming that his arrest was illegal. The MLA had refuted the BJP’s allegations and said he would lodge police cases against those who “spread lies” about him.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh alleged that since Kejriwal had started raising the issue of law and order and rising crime in Delhi, the BJP and the central government were “trying to harass and conspire against his party leaders”.
“Balyan has been arrested under this conspiracy and the charges against him are baseless,” Singh claimed.