AAP MLA Naresh Balyan sent to 2-day police custody in extortion case

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Sunday sent Aam Aadmi Party's Uttam Nagar MLA Naresh Balyan to police custody for two days in an extortion case.

Delhi Police in its application claimed that Balyan, who was arrested on Saturday, was non-cooperative during the investigation and his custodial interrogation was required to unearth the conspiracy regarding the involvement of the other persons in the "extortion syndicate".

The application seeking five days' custodial interrogation of the accused claimed that his voice sample was needed so that the police could crosscheck it with an alleged audio clip of Balyan talking to a gangster.

Balyan's counsel, however, called the arrest "illegal" and "political". He said that the grounds of arrest weren't given to the accused in writing at the time of the arrest.

The duty judge sent the MLA to a two-day police remand and directed it to file the application before the court concerned on the expiry of Balyan's custody.

The MLA from Delhi's Uttam Nagar Assembly segment was called to the Delhi Police's Crime Branch office in R K Puram for questioning and was later arrested on Saturday.

The development came hours after the BJP alleged that Balyan was involved in extortion activities and cited the audio clip. It also questioned why AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has not taken action against the MLA.

The Aam Aadmi Party, however, defended Balyan, saying it was a fake audio clip and the charges against him were baseless.

Criticising the arrest of Balyan, Kejirwal on Sunday claimed that it sent a message to the people of Delhi and gangsters active in the city that those who raise their voices against crimes would face jail while the criminals would be protected.

"Instead of taking action against the criminals, Amit Shah and the BJP have attacked me and arrested my MLA," the AAP chief said.