A Delhi court on Monday refused to grant bail to Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Narela MLA Sharad Chauhan, charged with allegedly abetting the suicide of a woman party worker.
Dismissing his bail plea, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ashish Aggarwal sent him to judicial custody till August 15. Seeking bail, Pradeep Rana, counsel for the accused argued that he had been falsely implicated in the case due to political rivalry.
The Delhi Police opposed the MLA’s bail plea, submitting that the investigation was in the initial stages and there was possibility of the accused persons influencing the witnesses.
The court also remanded other arrested accused — suspended Delhi Police Assistant Sub-Inspector Mukhtiyar Singh, Sonu alias Virendra Mann, Mohan Lal Verma, Sanjay Kumar, Amit Kumar, Rajnikanth alias Rajni and Ramesh Bharadwaj to 14 days judicial custody.
The woman had committed suicide on July 19 after being allegedly harassed by Mr. Bharadwaj. The mother of two daughters had left behind a self-shot WhatsApp video in which she said: “I was denied justice”.
Mr. Bharadwaj, a close associate of Mr. Chauhan, had allegedly molested the woman last December and had been threatening her using Mr. Chauhan’s name.
Police allegations
The Police have alleged that the MLA and the other accused had helped Mr. Bharadwaj in harassing the woman, and creating circumstances in which she took the extreme step. He had also been shielding Mr. Bharadwaj and guiding him at every step — from diluting the initial complaint to bribing the investigating officer to go slow on the molestation complaint, the police said.
The cops further alleged that Mr. Chauhan used other tactics to put pressure on the woman to withdraw the molestation complaint against Mr. Bharadwaj.
After the woman failed to get justice at the party forum and even returned empty handed from the Chief Minister’s residence, Mr. Chauhan and his supporters launched a campaign to malign her image and used their clout to get the name of the woman’s daughter removed from the school rolls, the police alleged.
Narela MLA to remain in custody till
August 15; Ramesh Bharadwaj also remanded in custody
