Received money from banned organization; Delhi L-G recommends NIA probe against Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, V.K. Saxena, has recommended a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who is under judicial custody at Tihar jail in connection with the alleged excise policy scam.

The latest move came after the L-G received a complaint from Ashoo Mongia, the National General Secretary of the World Hindu Federation, alleging that AAP received political funding from the banned terrorist organization 'Sikhs for Justice'. Ashoo Mongia had alleged that the AAP had received a staggering amount of $16 million in funding from Sikhs for Justice and other pro-Khalistan groups between 2014 and 2022 for facilitating the release of 1993 Delhi bomb blast convict Davinder Pal Singh Bhullar.

It has also been alleged that a clandestine meeting took place in 2014 between Arvind Kejriwal and pro-Khalistan groups at the Richmond Hill Gurdwara in New York.

“During the said meeting, Kejriwal purportedly promised to facilitate the release of Devender Pal Bhullar, in return for substantial financial backing from the Khalistani factions to AAP,” the L-G's letter to the Home Ministry read.

It has also been mentioned in the letter that Arvind Kejriwal wrote to former President Pranab Mukherjee seeking clemency for Bhullar.

Meanwhile, senior AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj responded that the Lieutenant Governor's action was a conspiracy against the party and the leader. Bhardwaj, who alleged that the Lieutenant Governor is an agent of the BJP, added that the BJP will lose all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi in the elections.