New Delhi: Ramesh Bhardwaj, the accused in the AAP woman activist suicide case that had triggered a war of words between BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party, has been arrested from Sonipat in Haryana, Delhi Police on Wednesday said.
Bhardwaj was arrested by a police team from Sonipat on Tuesday night. He was brought to Crime Branch office here and questioned for several hours in connection with suicide by the woman, alongwith the local MLA of Narela, said a senior Crime Branch officer.
A non bailable warrant was also issued against him yesterday by the Crime Branch as he was not joining the probe, the officer said. “The MLA was sent back after questioning and asked to come again for further questioning. He was also asked to bring two other men Amit and Rajnikant whose names have surfaced in connection with the case to join the investigation,” said Joint CP(Crime) Ravindra Yadav.
The woman had consumed poisonous substance at her home in north west Delhi’s Narela and died during treatment at LNJP Hospital on July 19. The woman had filed a complaint against Bhardwaj for allegedly touching her inappropriately and a case of molestation was registered in June. The accused was arrested and later released on bail.
On July 20, Delhi Police had registered a case of abetment to suicide and handed over the entire matter to a Special Investigation Team. The family members of the woman had claimed that she had gone into depression after her alleged molester Bhardwaj, an AAP colleague, was released on bail. She had also alleged that the accused was being protected by the local AAP MLA.
The woman in a video recording had also levelled serious allegations against the accused Bhardwaj accusing him of pressuring her to “compromise” if she wanted to rise in the party and claimed himself to be “close to the local party MLA. Delhi BJP had held the AAP dispensation “responsible” for the death of the 28-year-old woman, drawing sharp reaction from the AAP which accused it of playing “politics over corpses”.
Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta accompanied by daughters and husband of the deceased met the National Commission for Women chairperson and requested her for a “high level” probe. (PTI)
