AAP legislator Kartar Singh Tanwar's home was raided by taxmen on Tuesday
Highlights
- Rajesh Rishi, legislator from west Delhi,accused of extortion by woman
- Woman, purpotedly an AAP worker, allegedly attempted suicide
- Another AAP leader, Kartar Singh Tanwar, raided by Income Tax Dept.
Two more Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lawmakers are in trouble in Delhi even as the party seethes at the criminal cases piling up against its members.
Rajesh Rishi, the legislator from Janakpuri in west Delhi, has been accused of extortion by a woman who named him in a note before allegedly attempting suicide earlier this month.
The woman is also believed to be an AAP worker.
Another lawmaker, Kartar Singh Tanwar, has been raided by the Income Tax department. Taxmen searched the Chhattarpur home of Mr Tanwar, a former civic engineer who is said to be a property dealer.
"I could be next in line to be arrested or raided," Manish Sisodia, the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, has said.
Mr Rishi has denied any links with the woman who allegedly tried to kill herself on July 15. She claimed in her note that she was being blackmailed by a woman colleague, who was being helped by the legislator.
The police say FIRs or First Information Reports have been filed by both women.
Mr Rishi, who has been charged with aiding suicide besides extortion, claims that he has been dragged into a dispute between two women.
"I do not know the woman who has levelled allegations against me. I know the other woman as a party worker. My name has been unnecessarily dragged into their dispute," he said.
Eleven AAP lawmakers have been arrested since the party came to power in Delhi last year after a stunning victory. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has repeatedly accused the BJP-led central government of being sore losers and taking out its frustrations on his party men. The BJP has rubbished the allegations.
Last weekend, two AAP lawmakers were arrested within 12 hours.
Amanatullah Khan, the party's lawmaker from Okhla, was arrested for allegedly trying to run over a woman protesting outside his home against power cuts and Naresh Yadav, AAP lawmaker from Mehrauli, was charged with desecrating the holy Quran.
Mr Kejriwal described his party's power struggle with the BJP as a "holy war between Kauravas and Pandavas" from the epic Mahabharat.