AAP councillor among 7 held for running betting racket

Police said one of the accused managed to flee while Singh and six others, including the woman, were arrested.

An Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillor Joginder Singh alias Bunty was arrested on Sunday along with six others for allegedly running an illegal betting racket inside an office in north Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar area, police said. A total of ₹4.53 lakh was seized from the spot.

AAP councillor among 7 held for running betting racket

Delhi Police officers said they acted on a tip-off and conducted a raid at Main Kadipur Road where they found seven men and a woman with cards and cash. Police said Singh was one of the accused who was held from the raid with his associates. The case has been registered under sections 3 (penalty for owning or keeping, or having charge of, a gaming-house) and 4 (penalty for being found in a gaming-house) of the Public Gambling Act, 1867.

Police said one of the accused managed to flee while Singh and six others, including the woman, were arrested.

A senior police officer said inquiry is underway to determine Singh’s involvement in the racket.

Criticising the AAP, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said, “Will Arvind Kejriwal and Saurabh Bharadwaj expel this gambling councillor from AAP or will they call it a BJP conspiracy ? Bunty is the same councillor who had brandished a revolver during the 2022 municipal election campaign and was caught on video…”

Responding to the allegations, an AAP spokesperson said, “In the past decade, the BJP has created a situation where central government agencies and its police register false cases on an everyday basis on its political adversaries. Today, it’s difficult for anybody to comment on the merits of allegations if it comes from any agency under BJP control.”