Police says probe on, FIR filed, as AAP claims charge is ‘ baseless’
Facing criticism from all sides, Mr Vishwas, a member of the AAP’s political affairs committee, said the allegations against him were false and baseless and it was part of a defamation campaign against the AAP by rival parties, and he was supported by the AAP.
DCW chairperson Barkha Singh said: “It is the same volunteer who has been coming to us for quite some time now. He ( Vishwas) should come since the complainant is his own party’s volunteer. The volunteer’s marriage is falling apart because of him, she has alleged.”
Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh said: “The allegation against Mr Vishwas is totally false and baseless. The AAP is being targeted. There is no basis for the allegation. Please spare our families. Our wives, our
children get hurt by these stories, please spare them.”
The woman said: “Just because of this allegation ( of an illicit affair with Mr Vishwas), my husband has left me. I have two kids. I come from a middle class family where they feel that since Kumar Vishwas is AAP spokesperson and a known face, maybe there was something between the two of us. I am unable to explain. That’s why I want Kumar Vishwas to clarify the matter, but he didn’t. Due to this, I had to approach the DCW.”
She also sought police protection, citing an alleged threat call from a certain “close aide” of Mr Vishwas. “I received a call at around 10.30 pm last night and I was threatened. The person who made the call stays with Vishwas and manages his party work. Since I have been threatened, I also want police protection. However, I haven’t made any formal demand in this regard yet as the call came late night,” she said.
The woman claimed after her complaint to the Women’s Commission, people from the AAP leader’s side were making efforts to get in touch with her. She castigated the CM, saying: “You claim to protect the country’s women, but you can’t even protect your own party’s female workers.”
Mr Vishwas, who has in the past too courted controversy over his alleged derogatory remarks against women, said the media was playing into the hands of the BJP and of being “extortionist”. Saying that he was hurt by the “baseless allegation”, Mr Vishwas added: “She registered a complaint 15 days back, but the police has not taken any action yet. She had sent me a mail saying Kumar bhaiya, what should I do now? Thereafter, our AAP legal cell asked her to register an FIR in this regard.” “During the Delhi Assembly polls, we were also defamed by the BJP to gain political mileage. A private TV channel is running a baseless story against me. I have sent a defamation notice to it,” he said. Attacking the Delhi police, Mr Vishwas said the woman in her complaint had even named some persons who were behind defaming her, but the Delhi police was not taking action against them. AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the woman had named four persons in her complaint to the Delhi police on March 31, accusing them of maligning her image on the social media. “When nothing happened, she made a complaint to the women’s commission,” Mr Singh said. He said that in none of her complaints had the woman talked about any illicit relationship. “Despite that, it is being made out as if an illicit relationship has been unearthed. The woman has complained about maligning her image. She accused a BJP spokesperson of tweeting her photo,” he added. Mr Singh also urged the media to refrain from targeting the party without evidence. “If there is a premeditated strategy to target the AAP, then please don’t be part of it. If there is any evidence, if you have facts, then please run a story. But please don’t run cooked- up stories where the fact is something and something else is being run,” Mr Singh said. The Delhi police said an FIR on the woman’s complaint was registered April 29 under IPC Section 509 ( insulting the modesty of a woman) and Section 67A of the IT Act at Nand Nagri police station in northeast Delhi, and the case was being investigated. No arrests have been made in the case so far. “We had registered an FIR on April 29. Further investigations are on,” DCP ( northeast) Veenu Bansal said. He, however, did not reveal the names of the accused in the FIR, but sources claimed three persons have been named by the victim in the case.