Punjab Police arrests AAP MLA Naresh Yadav in sacrilege case

Punjab Police last night arrested Aam Aadmi Party MLA Naresh Yadav, who has been booked in connection with the alleged Malerkotla sacrilege incident on June 24. Punjab Police, IG (Patiala Zone), Paramraj Singh Umra Nangal said, Yadav, who was arrested from his house in Delhi, will be produced before a Malerkotla court today. Yesterday, Punjab Police had sent a team to Delhi to arrest Yadav after a Malerkotla court issued an arrest warrant against him.
The AAP MLA has been booked under relevant sections of the IPC after one of the accused, Vijay Kumar, arrested in connection with the incident, claimed he had done it at the behest of Yadav. He has been charged with IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on



grounds of religion, race, place of birth etc and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295 (injury or defiling place of worship with an intent to insult the religion of any class) among others. Punjab Police had questioned the AAP MLA twice in connection with the incident.
The Mehrauli MLA and his party have denied the charges and alleged it was a political conspiracy to malign AAP's image ahead of Assembly polls in Punjab. Earlier yesterday, Delhi Police arrested another AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan on charges of threatening a woman with rape and murder. The woman had alleged that Khan instructed a young man to threaten her with rape and murder for politicising the issue of power cuts in the national capital.