AAP MLA’s two ‘aides’ involved in extortion case

Three armed men, including two alleged associates of AAP legislator Gulab Singh, barged into the office of a property dealer and tried to extort from him by holding him hostage at gunpoint in west Delhi’s Bindapur, the police said on Tuesday.

Two of them were nabbed following a brief scuffle, while the third managed to flee in a Toyota Innova car belonging to the MLA, said Dependra Pathak, joint CP (south-western range).

The nabbed men, Satish and Jagdish, are being booked for extortion and will be arrested, said the officer. Efforts are on to nab the third suspect, Devender. The officer said Jagdish is an ex-Armyman and was found to be in possession of a pistol.

Responding to the allegations, the MLA from Matiala constituency said that Satish had campaigned for him during the last Assembly elections, but was not associated with him in any way after that.

“I have not been in touch with Satish since the elections. He does not work for me and has nothing to do with me,” claimed Mr Gulab Singh.

About Devender, the MLA conceded that he works as his driver, but claimed that he was tricked into driving the other two suspects to the alleged spot of incident.

“Devender is an honest man. The other two men requested him to drop them to Bindapur. He obliged them as he remembered that Satish had campaigned for us. Devender was unaware of their motives and left the spot as soon as he noticed some problem,” said the MLA.

He agreed that the Innova car belonged to his office, but alleged that his name was being dragged into the incident as he had repeatedly hit out against “illegal construction” in the area.

The complainants have been identified as Rinku Diwan and his business partner, Deepak Sharma. They have alleged that they were in their Bindapur office late Tuesday afternoon when the three men barged into their office and demanded money.

When Diwan raised an alarm, he was allegedly thrashed. They, however, managed to raise an alarm which drew the attention of locals. Satish and Jagdish were nabbed, while Devender drove away in his Innova.

The accused were allegedly demanding Rs 1.5 lakh as extortion amount from the businessmen. “The complainants have alleged that they have been extorting even in the past. Two of the suspects are alleged to be working at the office of the MLA Gulab Singh,” said Mr. Pathak.