Malerkotla Quran sacrilege: Accused AAP MLA places Ranjit panel report in court as defence

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator from Delhi, Naresh Yadav, who was arrested in the Malerkotla Quran sacrilege incident, on Thursday placed in court the Justice Ranjit Singh (retd) Commission report as defence and demanded probe into the bank accounts of main accused, Vijay Kumar, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) volunteer.

Narpal Singh Dhaliwal, the counsel of the Mehrauli MLA, who had secured bail later, requested that the probe be conducted into the source of money and Vijay Kumar’s association with the RSS by a superintendent of police (SP)-rank official or the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

The commission report on sacrilege incidents in the state and police firing on Sikh protesters in Faridkot was tabled in the Punjab assembly on August 27.

Additional sessions judge Dinesh asked the state to respond by September 20 when the case will come up for next hearing.

“We have submitted in the court the commission report which is now a public document. The report says Vijay Kumar was an RSS pracharak in New Delhi from 1999 to 2001 and had received ₹90 lakh in his bank account and then withdrew ₹56 lakh. He had also spent ₹95,125 daily at casino in Dubai. We seek probe into his sources of income and his links with the RSS,” Dhaliwal said.

“The court has entertained our plea,” he added.

‘A bid by RSS, SAD-BJP to defame AAP’

Leader of opposition and AAP’s Dirba MLA Harpal Singh Cheema said it was an attempt by the RSS and the then Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (SAD-BJP) government to defame their party ahead of the Punjab assembly elections.

“The police never probed his bank accounts and his RSS link. The evidence was deliberately concealed by the police. Vijay Kumar had admitted in his bail application that he was forced to name Naresh Yadav as one behind the incident,” said Cheema.

“Even the Ranjit commission has recommended investigation into Kumar’s RSS link and his bank accounts,” he added.

Kumar, the main accused in the June 24, 2016, burning of Quran in Muslim-dominated Malerkotla, had earlier claimed that he did it at the behest of Yadav whom he claimed to be his friend. In November, Kumar did a U-turn by alleging before the media that the police forced him to name Yadav in the case. He, too, is out on bail in the case.