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Journalism of Courage
A Delhi court on Sunday (December 1) remanded Aam Aadmi Party’s Uttam Nagar MLA Naresh Balyan in police custody for two days in connection with an extortion case registered against him last year.
Gurcharan, a resident of Mohan Garden alleged in July 2023 that he received an extortion call demanding Rs. 1 crore from gangster Kapil Sangwan @ Nandu. He also claimed that he was threatened with “dire consequences” if he failed to pay the amount. An investigation by the Delhi Police then concluded that Sangwan was operating from a foreign country.
Balyan’s involvement was suspected later last year following a broadcast on a Hindi news channel featuring alleged recordings of a phone call between Sangwan and Balyan. “On 30.11.2024, again above said audio clip regarding conversation between notorious gangster Kapil Sangwan @ Nandu, based abroad, and Naresh Balyan, an MLA of the Aam Aadmi Party, relating to collection of ransom amount through extortion got viral on social media platforms,” the remand application of the police alleged.
Following this, Balyan was interrogated by the police: “…initially he answered some questions but all of sudden he stopped cooperating in the investigation and flatly refused to answer,” the police alleged in their remand papers seeking five days custody of the MLA.
The police submitted before the Delhi Court that his custody was needed to “unearth” the conspiracy of other persons in the alleged “extortion syndicate”. They added that his custody was also needed to prevent him from threatening others, and to collect his voice sample to compare it to the audio clip which was being circulated. It was also their case that they needed Balyan in custody to communicate with and track down Sangwan.
Naresh Balyan’s counsel called the arrest “illegal” and “political” stating that the grounds of arrest weren’t given to the accused in writing at the time of the arrest.
They also questioned the timing and the need for the arrest, pointing out that the voice samples in question had already existed for 17 months.
The counsel also argued that the MLA couldn’t be arrested for remaining silent during interrogation as that was his right.
“Has an FSL examination of this voice sample been done? Suppose it turns out that the clip is doctored, who will be held responsible for my arrest?” argued Balyan’s counsel. “I’ve myself filed complaints against him. I’m a victim of extortion myself,” he added.
Balyan submitted before a Dwarka court last year that he had filed five complaints against Sangwan and others in 2022 and 2023. However, the police said they had not registered any FIRs on his complaint because of his suspected links with Sangwan.
