Malerkotla: Police say AAP MLA ‘mastermind’

Ruchika M. Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 2

Giving a new twist to the Malerkotla Quran desecration case, the Punjab Police are set to question Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Mehrauli South in Delhi, Naresh Yadav, for his alleged role in the incident.

Though Yadav has vehemently denied the charge, Punjab cops claim they have enough proof to link him with the three men arrested in the case: Vijay Kumar, Gaurav and the latter’s father Nand Kishore.

They claim the AAP MLA was the “mastermind” of the desecration of the Muslim holy book on June 25, and “had offered to pay Rs 1 crore to Vijay Kumar for doing the job”.

Yadav, when contacted, said he was unaware if he had met any person called Vijay Kumar, and denied allegations of his involvement in the crime. “Being a politician, many people come and meet me. I would have no knowledge if a person meeting me today goes and commits some heinous crime tomorrow. And I can confirm having met a person called Vijay Kumar only after I have a look at his photograph,” he said.

He claimed it to be a political conspiracy to diminish AAP’s poll prospects in the state. Incidentally, Yadav is the “seh prabhari” to Sanjay Singh, in charge of AAP’s Punjab affairs.

Sangrur SSP Prithpal Singh Thind said, “During their interrogation, Vijay Kumar and Gaurav said on June 24, a day before the sacrilege incident, they met the MLA at his residence in Delhi, where the conspiracy was given a final shape. We have also been able to establish through call records that Kumar and Yadav exchanged calls on June 18, 19 and 23.”

Police claim that the trio bought the holy book from Jama Masjid area, tore the pages and spread these in the only Muslim-dominated town of Punjab, “with the intention of creating a divide and polarising voters”.

“We have also recovered the binding of the holy book, after Vijay Kumar led the police to where he had disposed it of outside Malerkotla,” said Thind. The three, arrested on June 29, are in police custody till July 5.

While Vijay Kumar used to run an NGO in USA and later in Canada that had an anti-Muslim slant, the other two were affiliated to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

Meanwhile, Yadav termed it a political conspiracy to defame AAP. “I am an honest and secular politician. Why would I do anything that spreads hatred when I have sworn to lead an honest life?” he said.

(With inputs from Sushil Goyal, Sangrur)