New Delhi: Two ‘victims’ have come forward and must be confronted with Naresh Balyan, Delhi police told a court here Tuesday while seeking further custody of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Uttam Nagar.
The court, in turn, granted the police Balyan’s custody for another 24 hours.
Police sources told ThePrint that at least five victims have come forward.
“Identity of victims is being protected. They have disclosed involvement of Naresh Balyan in extortion rackets with gangster Kapil Sangwan. Further investigation is on,” said a police official who did not wish to be named.
No separate FIR has been filed on allegations levelled against Balyan by the two ‘victims’ mentioned in court Tuesday, it is learnt.
A two-time MLA, Balyan was arrested by RK Puram unit of the Delhi Police Crime Branch on 30 November, hours after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a press conference accusing him of being part of an extortion racket involving gangster Kapil Sangwan, suspected to be in the UK. The case pertains to an FIR lodged by one businessman Gurcharan Singh accusing Sangwan of demanding Rs 1 crore as ransom last July.
This was followed by a TV news channel playing audio clips of purported conversations between Sangwan and Balyan. Singh’s name found mention in one of the clips. The channel also played a video clip of a man claiming to be Sangwan who alleged that Balyan shared Singh’s details with him.
The AAP MLA was questioned for the first time in connection with the case Saturday prior to his arrest, according to his lawyers.
While the purported clips surfaced on social media more than a year ago, police said the investigating officer got hold of them just recently and that they have been sent for forensic analysis; the report is still awaited.
While granting Balyan’s custody for another 24 hours, the court instructed Delhi police to file a response to his bail petition latest by Wednesday.
In the application submitted before the court Tuesday, a copy of which is with ThePrint, investigators said they also need Balyan’s custody to gather “linking and corroborating evidence” pertaining to the alleged crime. The police also cited as grounds for extended custody the need to interrogate Balyan to probe the ‘deep-rooted’ nexus between him and Sangwan and to trace alleged criminal associates.
As ThePrint reported earlier, court documents show Balyan had filed at least five police complaints against Sangwan. His counsel maintains that no FIR was lodged on the basis of these complaints and that Balyan’s arrest is a ‘political stunt’ orchestrated by Delhi police.
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