New Delhi:
A large amount of cash and liquor have been seized from a car with a “Punjab government” sticker in election-bound Delhi, police said yesterday, adding that AAP pamphlets were also found in the car. The BJP soon launched an attack on the Aam Aadmi Party, after which the Punjab government clarified the car had a fake registration plate – that the seized vehicle was different from the registered model.
Sharing details about the seizure, Delhi Police said the vehicle was parked outside Punjab Bhawan on Copernicus Marg. When searched, the cops said they found wads of cash amounting to Rs 8 lakh, liquor bottles with Punjab stamps, and AAP pamphlets inside the car.
As per the model code of conduct in force in Delhi ahead of the polls, people are barred from carrying more than Rs 50,000 in cash.
A case has been registered at the Tilak Marg police station.
The Punjab government said in a statement that as per the official record, the car was registered in the name of Maj. Anubhav Shivpuri, who was posted at the Army Dental College, Pathankot, three years ago. He is a permanent resident of Khadki in Maharashtra, it said.
Moreover, the vehicle registered with the number PB35AE1342 – as seen in visuals of the seized car – was a Ford Eco Sport, but the car seized by Delhi Police belongs to the Hyundai Creta series, said the statement. “This confirms that the vehicle’s number plate is forged and fake,” said the Punjab government, clarifying that no such car is owned or hired by them.
Expressing shock over the incident, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said he can’t recall such a huge recovery of cash and liquor in his 35 years of public life. “Till now, we thought Arvind Kejriwal institutionalised corruption in Delhi government, polluted Yamuna and Delhi’s air but today we understand that he has polluted Delhi’s political system too,” said the BJP leader.
The matter was “totally fake and laughable”, the AAP hit back, stating that the number plate belonged to a different car model than the one seized by the cops. There is no entry record of the car at the Punjab Bhawan, the ruling party added.
“Conveniently (the car was) parked with no driver in sight. Owner details trace back to someone from Pathankot, now in Punjabi Bagh, but originally from Pune. A planted stunt poorly executed and utterly bogus,” said an AAP statement.
AAP leader Priyanka Kakkar said the BJP was making ridiculous and false allegations, and they should stop such activities.
