Police searching for Chauhan in case filed by V.K. Singh’s wife

New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) Delhi Police on Thursday were conducting searches for Pradeep Chauhan, who has been missing for the past few days after an FIR for blackmail and extortion was filed against him by the wife of Union Minister V.K. Singh.

Chauhan had earlier been questioned by the police following the FIR. His mobile phones are switched off for the past two days, police sources said.

V.K. Singh's wife Bharti Singh had on late Tuesday filed a case against Chauhan at Tughlaq Road police station for allegedly blackmailing her and demanding Rs 2 crore as extortion money.

In a related development, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh on Thursday said that Chauhan met him on Sunday and claimed that he has "evidence" against two union ministers of plotting murder.

But the audio and video evidence did not have anything substantial, the AAP leader said.

Singh told IANS that Chauhan also wanted an AAP ticket for the Punjab elections.

"He (Pradeep Chauhan) came to my office on Sunday. He said he is a nephew of Gen (retd) V.K. Singh and has worked for him from Sahibabad during elections," Sanjay Singh told IANS.

"He further said that he has evidence against two union ministers of hatching a conspiracy to get a few people murdered and assured that he has audio and video evidence of the same," Singh added.

"When I asked him to show the audio and video evidence there was nothing substantial in them," the AAP leader added.

Following the claims of Chauhan, Sanjay Singh called up a close relative of Minister of State for External Affairs Singh to confirm if he was really a nephew. "A close family member said that Chauhan is not his nephew," he said.

The AAP leader said that Chauhan wanted his support to "expose" the minister and also demanded a party ticket from Punjab for the coming assembly elections. Singh said he told Chauhan that "ticket will be given to party volunteers and not to him".

Sanjay Singh then asked Chauhan to leave his office and threatened to call police.

In her complaint to the police, Bharti Singh said: "The accused has been threatening me with dire consequences, saying that if I fail to pay him Rs 2 crore, he will make public some doctored audio and video clips, contents of which are unknown to me."

Bharti Singh further said that the accused had threatened to ruin her and the reputation of her husband. She has also demanded security from the Delhi Police.

Bharti Singh's lawyer Vishwajeet Singh told IANS on Thursday that they will pursue their complaint.