A Delhi court on Thursday extended till September 9 the police custody of expelled AAP MLA and former woman and child welfare minister Sandeep Kumar who had been arrested by the Delhi police for allegedly raping a woman on the pretext of helping her get a ration card. Mr Kumar was produced before the court of special judge Poonam Chaudhry after the expiry of his three-day police remand. The police, while producing Mr Kumar, sought two days extension of his custody, saying it had to recover a device used in making the alleged CD of Mr Kumar. The prosecution also alleged that Mr Kumar was not cooperating in the probe. Pradeep Rana, appearing for Mr Kumar as defence counsel, opposed the prosecution move saying his client was innocent and was being framed. The court after hearing the submission of both the sides remanded Mr Kumar to one-day police custody.

The Delhi police has booked Kumar under rape charges (Section 376) with sections 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act. According to the police, the woman claimed that she had gone to visit the former minister for an issue related to her ration card. But Kumar gave her a “cold drink laced with sedative” after which she lost her consciousness. Earlier on Saturday, AAP suspended Kumar from the primary membership of the party. On Wednesday, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had sacked Kumar after receiving a CD in which Kumar was purportedly shown in a compromising position.