Chandigarh: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday stepped up its attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab, alleging that a network of middlemen was being used to withdraw or weaken rape cases in exchange for money.
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari described the alleged operation as a “₹5 crore corruption syndicate” and demanded an independent investigation. He also alleged the involvement of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s office and his wife, Dr Gurpreet Kaur Mann.
Addressing a press conference, Bhandari played purported audio recordings which he claimed featured a middleman speaking to a relative of an accused in a rape case and referring to the chief minister and his office.
He further claimed that another recording contained a discussion about a sum of money being “fixed”, while a third allegedly discussed the distribution of money among several people.
However, the recordings presented at the press conference could not be independently verified. Bhandari did not provide evidence establishing that the voices belonged to the individuals he named or that any money had actually been paid.
The allegations come amid BJP’s continuing criticism of the Punjab government over law and order and corruption-related issues.
