New Delhi: With Delhi Assembly elections less than a week away, Delhi police seized multiple liquor bottles and cash from a car which had multiple Aam Aadmi Party pamphlets and 'Punjab sarkar' written on it. The Punjab government has issued a clarification stating that the registration number on the vehicle is "forged and fake" and it does not belong to any state government employee.
On Wednesday night, Tilak Marg police station received information of a suspicious vehicle with a 'PB' number registration, and 'Punjab sarkar' written on it parked near Punjab Bhavan. Upon inspection, the vehicle had various pamphlets of the Aam Aadmi Party, multiple liquor bottles and cash worth lakhs, according to Delhi police.
Appropriate legal action is being initiated at Police Station Tilak Marg of New Delhi District, the police said.
Statement Of BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Praveen Khandelwal said that such incident has "exposed the disgusting face of AAP," criticising the party and Arvind Kejriwal on being corrupt.
"Delhi police have caught a vehicle of Punjab government and cash and liquor has been recovered from it. With this, the disgusting face of AAP has been exposed in Delhi. They have fooled the public of Delhi in the name of 'Aam Aadmi'...Arvind Kejriwal's AAP government is functioning in Delhi on the foundations of corruption, scams and lies. There will be a change in Delhi and a BJP government will be formed," the BJP MP told ANI.
AAP's national spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar called any allegation of distributing liquor or cash as a "hilarious accusation," saying that the owner of the vehicle is from Maharashtra, but is being falsely shown being from Delhi.
"This is a hilarious allegation and the Punjab government has also issued a clarification that no car with this number plate belonged to the Punjab government. The car never entered Punjab Bhawan. The registration number of the vehicle is of a Ford Ecosport car... The owner of the vehicle is from BJP-ruled Maharashtra, but they are showing that the owner of the vehicle is from Delhi," Kakkar told ANI.
Punjab Government Issued Clarification
However, the Punjab government has issued a clarification that the vehicle is "registered in the name of Maj. Anubhav Shivpuri was posted in Army Dental College, Pathankot 3 years back and is a permanent resident of Khadki, Maharashtra".
"The registered vehicle model on the registration number PB35AE1342 is Ford Eco Sport of make year 2018 but the actual vehicle apprehended by the police belongs to Hyundai Creta series. This confirms that the vehicle's number plate is forged and fake. High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) is mandatory for all vehicles and the registration plate visible in the video is an ordinary one, without the features of HSRP, hence easy to forge," the statement read.
Refuting any connection of the Punjab government, the statement added, "We have searched our records and found that no such vehicle is owned or hired by Govt of Punjab. The apprehended vehicle does not belong to Govt of Punjab at all."
Delhi elections will take place in a single phase on February 5, and counting of votes will take place on February 8. A triangular contest between the incumbent AAP, BJP and Congress is currently underway, with each side attacking the other over various issues in the national capital.
Disclaimer: This is a syndicated feed. The article is not edited by the FPJ editorial team.
