NEW DELHI: AAP leader and national Convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday claimed that MLA Naresh Balyan, who was arrested by Delhi police on Saturday on charges of “extortion,” was actually a victim himself.
Addressing a press conference at AAP headquarters, Kejriwal claimed that Balyan received a few phone calls from gangster Kapil Sangwan, alias Nandu, seeking extortion money, against which the MLA submitted complaints to Delhi police.
Kejriwal also read out some paragraphs from a purported complaint that Balyan allegedly submitted to the special commission of police in May 2023.
“Balyan was arrested because he submitted a complaint to Delhi police against gangsters. If Home Minister Amit Shah has courage, he should arrest the gangsters,” Kejriwal said, adding that there were three attacks on him in the last few days.
“By arresting Balyan, the Home Minister has given a message that if you complain against gangsters, you can be attacked or arrested,” the former Delhi chief minister said.
Kejriwal added that he would meet two traders in West Delhi’s Tilak Nagar area, where gangsters allegedly fired several shots to threaten them sometime back.
Delhi police on Saturday claimed that Balyan was allegedly operating with gangster Kapil Sangwan, who was behind several extortion and firing cases in the capital.
The Uttam Nagar MLA was under investigation since last year after an audio clip of a purported conversation between him and Sangwan surfaced.