The Delhi Police on Wednesday told a court in the national capital that Aam Aadmi Party MLA Naresh Balyan will be arrested in a case under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, The Indian Express reported.
Balyan is in police custody in an extortion case.
“We will be arresting him right now,” the newspaper quoted Special Public Prosecutor Akhand Pratap Singh as telling the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Paras Dalal.
While first introduced in Maharashtra in 1999, the applicability of the Act extends to the National Capital Territory.
On Tuesday, the court extended Balyan’s police custody in the extortion case by one day. The case was registered last year. On the same day, Balyan had filed a bail petition in the extortion case.
The Uttam Nagar MLA was arrested by the police’s Crime Branch on Saturday after a purported audio clip surfaced of a conversation between him and gangster Kapil Sangwan alias Nandu.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has alleged that Balyan took the gangster’s help to engage in extortion.
Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, however, claimed on Sunday that Balyan was a victim of extortion by gangsters himself. The former Delhi chief minister said that Balyan complained to the police about getting threat calls from Sangwan to him and his family on May 23, 2023.
Kejriwal alleged that the police arrested Balyan instead of acting on his complaint.
“Through Naresh Balyan’s arrest, [Union Home Minister] Amit Shah has indicated to the people of Delhi that if they complain, they may be arrested or even assaulted,” Kejriwal said at a press conference.
The Delhi Police reports to the Union home ministry.
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