Chandigarh: Punjab Police have launched a probe to determine the source for financial aid to Vijay Kumar, the prime accused in the alleged desecration of Quran in Malerkotla town of Sangrur district on June 24, to purchase a flat in Chandigarh in May.
According to a report in The Indian Express, Vijay purchased Flat no 727 at the Omaxe Silver Birch complex in New Chandigarh on May 25, a month before the incident was carried out. Interestingly, the payment of Rs 35 lakh for the flat was cleared by Kumar within a month of purchasing it.
During interrogation, Kumar had named AAP MLA Naresh Yadav as the ‘mastermind’ of the offence, and claimed that he had been a payment of Rs 1 crore for the alleged act.
According to the report, the Omaxe flat was just one among the number of properties listed in Kumar’s name. Other properties are on Bhiwani road in Jind, in Palam Colony near DDA Park in palam, and Safdarjang Enclave Extension, New Delhi.
“During questioning, Vijay said that he had sold a flat in Mumbai for Rs 1.70 crore four-five months ago and purchased the New Chandigarh flat from that money,” The Indian Express quoted Jaskiranjit Singh Teja, Superintendent of Police, Sangrur as saying.
Ashwini Sharma, the original owner of the flat, said that he met Kumar through a property dealer Puneet Vaid and that the payments were made through RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement).
Meanwhile, the police have claimed that on June 24, Kumar was driving a Mahindra Thar while his companion allegedly threw torn pages of the Quran in Malerkotla.
“Police got vital leads after the vehicle was identified from its registration number. The other two arrested include Vijay’s another friend Gaurav and Gaurav’s father Nand Kishore, residents of Taragarh in Pathankot district. Vijay Kumar and Nand Kishore knew each other for more than a decade. Vijay also faced a case under Essential Commodities Act but was acquitted,” said DSP Randhir Singh, head of the team investigating the case.
Police said that Kumar was linked with organisations like RSS, VHP and Banjrang Dal and was detained in the US in 2010 for carrying brass knuckles and “jihadi literature”.
