Blaming the Punjab police for “falsely implicating” its MlA Naresh Yadav in Malaerkotla desecration case, the Aam Aadmi Party on Monday met State Director General of Police (DGP) Suresh Arora assuring him that its legislator would “join the probe”.
Yadav, along with party’s national leader and Punjab party affairs in-charge Sanjay Singh, party’s state legal Cell head Himmat Singh Shergill, and Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana president Rajat Gautam, met DGP Arora in his office who assured them of a “fair and impartial” probe into the matter.
Punjab Police chief assured the AAP delegation that a “free, fair and impartial” investigation would be carried out.
Yadav, AAP MlA from Mehrauli, had been booked in connection with the alleged sacrilege incident after one of the accused claimed that he had acted at the behest of the legislator.
Asked about the reported phone calls between accused Vijay and Yadav, the DGP said: “These are under investigation. I can tell you that I have told the AAP delegation that we will conduct a free, fair and impartial investigation.”
Senior AAP leader and Punjab party in-charge Sanjay Singh said that there should be no doubt about the AAP MlA joining the investigation.
“We are not running away from the investigation, we will fight against any false allegations levelled against us. The AAP does not believe in the politics of hatred. If there is any evidence in any audio or video recording or through money transaction against our MlA which points to his role, you hang him. But do not make false accusations. The DGP has assured us that a fair investigation will be conducted,” he said.
AAP had termed it as a “political conspiracy” to defame the party ahead of the 2017 assembly polls.
Only a day before, Delhi Chief Minister and party national convener Arvind Kejriwal in Amritsar hit out at the ruling SAD-BJP combine alleging that they were feeling “jittery” as AAP would sweep the 2017 assembly polls, so they had stooped low to hatch a conspiracy to defame the party.
Three persons — Vijay Kumar, Nand Kishore Goldy and Gaurav — had been arrested by the Sangrur police on June 27 in the case. Vijay, an accused in the case and Delhi resident, had claimed that he “did it at the behest of Yadav”.
Violence erupted after the alleged sacrilege incident in Malerkotla on June 24 in which a mob had attacked the house of local Akali Dal MlA Farzana Nissara Khatoon.
Several policemen, including a DSP, were injured as about 300-400 protesters had indulged in stone-pelting and torched a car.