New Delhi: A fresh political row erupted on Friday after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia targeted the BJP over the arrest and subsequent release of Raj Singh in connection with the murder case of West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s personal assistant Chandranath Rath.
Sisodia, in a post on X, launched a sharp attack on the BJP, alleging misuse of investigative agencies and questioning the handling of arrests in the case.
“Raj Singh and his family are devotees of the BJP. They must have clapped even for the police encounters glorified to the extreme, the ED-CBI raids, and the arrests in fake cases. They would have applauded all of this, too. The BJP must have gained even more courage from their applause–that whenever they want, on whatever charge they desire, they can arrest anyone, carry out encounters,” Sisodia wrote.
He further stated that the “blind-devotee media” would have publicised actions of “police gunning down” the accused if he had not been released.
“But thank God. They were spared. Otherwise, the blind-devotee media would have been screaming at the top of its lungs to the country about how the BJP’s police had gunned down the mastermind. The very applause they gave for the BJP was about to turn into bullets for their own encounter. Thank God,” he said.
The remarks came after Raj Singh, who was arrested in connection with the murder case, alleged that he was wrongfully picked up by police due to mistaken identity and later released following a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe.
Speaking to ANI after his release, Singh claimed he was arrested while returning from Ayodhya with his mother and was pressured into confessing to a crime he did not commit.
“I was wrongfully arrested, mistaken with another Raj Kumar Singh. I had gone to Ayodhya with my mother for darshan. While coming back home, a police team arrested me. They did not listen, nor ask for evidence. They threatened me with an encounter and tried to force me to confess,” Singh said.
He further alleged custodial pressure during his detention in Kolkata.
“Later, I was taken to Kolkata, where the CID tortured me to admit a crime I had not committed. Their intention was to frame me as a criminal,” he added.
Singh said he was later cleared after the CBI intervened and filed an application before the court stating that he had no role in the case. He thanked the agency for a fair probe and urged Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to take action against the police team involved in his arrest.
According to CBI sources, the investigation confirmed that Raj Singh was a victim of mistaken identity. The agency, along with Uttar Pradesh Police, has also made further arrests in the case, including alleged shooter Rajkumar and other accused linked to the May 6 killing of Chandranath Rath near Madhyamgram in West Bengal.
