New Delhi, Dec 1: A court here on Sunday sent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Naresh Balyan to two days police custody in an extortion case. 

Earlier in the day, the Rouse Avenue Court reserved its orders on pleas of Delhi Police seeking custody of Balyan.

As it produced him before the court, the Delhi Police argued that the AAP leader should be sent to its custody for 5 days for interrogation.

After hearing the arguments, the court reserved its decision on Delhi Police’s application for custody of Balyan.

Naresh Balyan, who is an MLA from Uttam Nagar, was arrested on Saturday following the release of audio clips allegedly featuring him in a conversation with gangster Kapil Sangwan, alias Nandu. The clips purportedly reveal plans to threaten and extort money from Delhi builders and others.

In a press conference on Saturday, BJP national Spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia described Balyan as an "extortionist" and accused AAP leaders of colluding with gangsters to extort protection money from traders and builders. He alleged that Balyan's activities were conducted with AAP supremo and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's full knowledge and consent.

BJP leader Kailash Gahlot on Sunday dismissed claims of conspiracy surrounding Balyan’s arrest, asserting that the matter had been "known to senior leaders for the last one year."

Gahlot raised serious concerns about the lack of action from AAP's top brass, including Kejriwal, despite their awareness of the issue.

"It would be completely wrong to call this a conspiracy because every senior AAP leader has known about this for the last year. The real question is why no action was taken despite senior party leaders, including the National Convenor, being aware of such activities. It is disturbing that the issue has escalated to this point," he said.

Gahlot slammed AAP's purported principles, stating, "AAP initially stressed its commitment to three Cs -- Character, Corruption, and Crime. But when senior leaders and MLAs are involved in such incidents, it contradicts their founding values. The audio clip is not just a snippet; it is a continuous five-to-six-minute conversation that is clearly audible. This is very disturbing and shocking."

--IANS

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