Central govt sent 7 spies to AAP headquarters, claims Saurabh Bhardwaj

New Delhi, July 11 The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday accused the Central government of spying on its headquarters with the help of seven spies and released a CCTV footage in this regard.

Delhi Cabinet minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said that apart from this, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence was also spied upon a few days ago, as he called it a "very serious matter".

"For the first time in India, the national headquarters of a national party is being spied on. The national party was spied on by sending seven spies to AAP headquarters. These people seem to be related to some government agency. Why is the Central government so afraid of Arvind Kejriwal," asked Bhardwaj.

Bhardwaj said that an atmosphere of fear and panic has been created in India in such a way that no one knows how the government is spying on them. He also alleged that the Central government had earlier roped in Pegasus for this purpose.

“Till now, only individuals used to be spied upon, but now the national headquarters of a national party is being spied upon. While the Central government says ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas', how will it evoke any 'Vishwas' (trust) if such espionage is happening near its own party headquarters? How do we trust the Central government? We had also informed the public a few weeks back that the Chief Minister's residence is being snooped on, and now our national office is also being snooped on," Bhardwaj said.

Bhardwaj said that in the CCTV footage recorded at 1:30 p.m., four men could be seen standing outside the party headquarters. They were pretending to be passers-by and eventually moved towards the ITO, he said.

Soon after, a group of three individuals were seen passing by the party office who suddenly turned inside its premises at 1:35 p.m., he added.

"Simultaneously, the group of four who had headed towards ITO return and linger outside the office gate, with one of them also seen peeping inside the party office. Three of these four eventually walk away (in the direction away from the ITO), with one man remaining outside the gate. At 1:37 p.m., the group of three that had entered the premises come out and could be seen talking to the man standing outside," Bhardwaj said.

Bhardwaj claimed that they were possibly doing recee of the AAP headquarters.

Bhardwaj also pointed out that they wore similar sports shoes and had close-cropped haircut usually sported by government agents.

Sharing the pictures of the seven alleged spies, Bhardwaj urged the people to identify them.

Responding to media queries as to whether a police case will be registered in this matter, Bhardwaj said, “Given the present nexus between Delhi Police and BJP, reporting this is akin to complaining to the accused. There is no option left in the country now. If we ask for more security, Delhi Police will gladly do so and that is precisely the aim of the BJP. The point is that we have no one to ask for protection.”

--IANS