Banned separatist outfit alleges AAP got 'kickbacks' for promised release of Delhi blast convict

Pro Khalistani group claims Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had taken funding in 2014

Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a US-based banned separatist outfit, has alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is now in custody over money laundering charges, received $16 million from pro-Khalistan activists against the promise to release 1993 Delhi blast convict Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar.

According to a report in The Times of India, SFJ chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun claimed in a purported video that Kejriwal made the promise to release Bhullar in exchange for the financial support during a meeting at Gurdwara Richmond Hills, New York, in 2014.

The authenticity of the video, however, remains unverified. Moreover, Pannun has made several such unverified claims in the past.

Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has not officially responded to the allegation, but party sources have dismissed it as baseless.

Pannun also hinted at potential threats to Kejriwal's safety in prison for purportedly betraying their trust and being implicated in the deaths of pro-Khalistan Sikhs labelled as gangsters by his government.

Concerns have arisen among security agencies regarding Kejriwal's safety, particularly if he is incarcerated in Tihar Jail.

In 2014, Kejriwal had appealed to then President Pranab Mukherjee for clemency for Bhullar, which was rejected by the Delhi government's Sentence Review Board (SRB) in January this year.

Bhullar, originally sentenced to death in 2001, had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment by the Supreme Court in 2014.