AAP MLA rubbishes 'assault' charges, says police misled him into signing on arrest warrant

NEW DELHI:  Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Jagdeep Singh, who was arrested on charges of assaulting a contractor and later released on bail, on Sunday rubbished allegations against him and said the actual issue is that of an 'illegal encroachment' of a garbage dump near Hari Nagar. Narrating the incident of May 21, which led the police to take action, Singh said there was a lot of garbage near a cemetery in his constituency, for which he approached the MCD. "They didn't clean the garbage first. Then we asked a private company (Metro Waste) which cleans for the MCD. We were willing even to volunteer to help them clean, and asked them to send a truck. They first took two of our volunteers, but later after going for some distance they asked them to de-board the truck. When asked for the reason, they said they have orders from above to not clean the mess around this cemetery," he told media persons here. He said that the local volunteers came forward for help and began cleaning the garbage. "When we took the garbage to dumping ground, there was an illegal office of the Metro Waste. Since, it was an illegal encroachment we decided to dump the garbage there. Their employees began fighting with us. They misbehaved with our volunteers. After this the SHO of the area intervened, the owner of the company even apologised," he added. Singh further refuted the allegations of him being intoxicated at the time of the incident, saying that an alcohol test was done, which found him clean. "They accused me of being intoxicated. I said get me tested for drinking. Both I and that boy were taken and checked for alcohol, none was found," he said. "Three days laterI find out that there has been an FIR. I contacted my lawyer and spoke to the police. They said there is a case against me. I said they can arrest me if they want, but they said only a bail bond would suffice," he added. He also accused the police of misleading him into signing the arrest warrant, saying that he was told that he would be signing a bail bond. "Since my spectacle was broken, I couldn't read the bond, but they assured me that it is a bail bond. I signed on it. They made my sign an arrest warrant as well along with bail bond. Now, SHO has come to me saying, there was a mistake and ACP wants to meet me," he added. Singh said his fight against corruption and illegal encroachment would continue, adding that people will make the BJP (which heads the MCD presently) pay price during the next municipal polls.