BJP's national spokesperson Sambit Patra on Sunday accused AAP MLA Somnath Bharti of influencing the probe in a case of land grabbing in south Delhi.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, Patra played a purported audio clip of Bharti, claiming that the AAP MLA from Malviya Nagar pressurised an investigating officer to give a slip to an accused and destroy evidence against him in return of bribe.

National Spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari and State Spokesperson Dr. Anil Gupta were also present at the press conference. No immediate reaction was available from Bharti on the allegations.

Patra revealed that on November 10, 2023, a piece of land was illegally occupied in Jaitpur, and the person responsible for this act is reportedly a close associate of AAP MLA Somnath Bharti. Being a lawyer, Bharti made every possible effort to protect his associate. He said a chargesheet was also filed.

A video of Bharti meeting the investigating officer is also available, which the BJP will post on its social media platforms, Patra claimed.The party is also mulling to take legal recourse in the matter, he added.

 The BJP leader said this entire conversation was captured in a sting operation, in which Somnath Bharti can be clearly heard saying:"Take the money and forget the logic, just tear up that memo."The victim of the land grabbing case had filed an FIR, and the details of the case were recorded in a seizure memo. In this case, Somnath Bharti is threatening the investigating officer to destroy the memo.The sting operation recording also captures the investigating officer responding:"If I tear up the memo, I will be guilty, so I cannot do that."

Patra further stated the biggest asset of AAP is corruption, whether it is the Delhi Jal Board scam, the DTC bus scam, or any other scam. One of the major cases among these is land grabbing. It seems that land scams have become a business for AAP leaders.