New Delhi: Two-time Uttam Nagar MLA and AAP leader Naresh Balyan, currently in judicial custody in a case registered under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was “acting as an intermediary” for fugitive gangster Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu, sources in the Delhi Police have told ThePrint.
Balyan was denied bail by a Delhi court Wednesday.
According to police sources, Balyan had “confessed” in his disclosure statement that he was in touch with Nandu.
However, speaking to ThePrint, M.S. Khan, counsel for Balyan, said the MLA’s “disclosure statement holds no value”.
“The police can write anything but it won’t hold in court,” he added.
Balyan was arrested on 30 November last year on extortion charges. An audio clip, allegedly of Balyan and Nandu planning to extort a Delhi builder, had also gone viral on social media.
“Balyan and Sangwan have known each other for more than five years. They fell out a year-and-a-half ago over money, before the audio clip was aired. It is a classic example of what Sangwan does when he has a fallout with someone. He blackmails them that he will leak their call recordings proving that the other party was hand-in-glove with the (Nandu) gang,” a police source said.
The Nandu gang is active in outer Delhi areas like Najafgarh, connecting with Haryana. Police sources said that in the area, “people know about Balyan’s ties with Sangwan”.
The gangster is believed to be in the UK after he jumped parole and fled India in 2019. He also faces a Red Notice and sources said he keeps changing his location rapidly, making it difficult to trace him.
Sources also said the police have received multiple complaints against Balyan, alleging that he was extorting money from people and working for the Nandu gang.
According to the sources, complainants informed them that Balyan would tell them that he would “try to talk to Sangwan and bring them a peace and protection deal” but instead the MLA would end up looting them.
“One of the complainants said that Sangwan was trying to extort him for a plot in Najafgarh. When he approached Balyan, the MLA asked the complainant to sell him the plot at half price. But he didn’t even pay the promised half price,” a second police source said.
Balyan has also filed complaints against Sangwan alleging blackmail and threats.
When asked about Balyan’s complaints to the police against Sangwan, the second source told ThePrint: “These complaints were filed after their fallout. The probe is ongoing in these. So far, no FIR has been filed on the basis of Balyan’s complaints. All their allegations are baseless.”
‘Nothing concrete’
Balyan faces two FIRs and was granted bail in the first one relating to extortion, only to be arrested again soon after under MCOCA charges by the New Delhi Range, RK Puram, crime branch unit of the Delhi Police.
At the centre of the first case was an audio clip aired on a TV channel debate over a year ago.
“The audio was available (in public domain) for 15 months. They never sent it for forensic analysis earlier. Now they are asserting it is of Naresh Balyan and Kapil Sangwan. On the basis of what? How can anyone believe that the voices are of these two? There is nothing concrete to prove their case,” Balyan’s counsel Khan said.
The MLA was questioned only once on 30 November, 2024, before his arrest, according to his lawyers, who have also called the arrest illegal and a “political stunt” orchestrated by the Delhi Police.
Meanwhile, Delhi goes for elections on 5 February.
The crime branch filed a chargesheet relating to the MCOCA charges this month. While Balyan is an accused in the case, he hasn’t been named in the first chargesheet.
The chargesheet names Ritik Peter as one of the main accused in the case, alleged to be part of the Nandu gang along with other arrested accused, Rohit and Sachin Chikara.
“Most people didn’t want to come forward against Balyan. No official complaints have been filed against him earlier as people were scared of him. After the first FIR was lodged, more people started coming forward to lodge their complaints. So far, we have five such complainants and witnesses in the case,” the first police source said.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)