AAP claims crimes have shot up in Delhi, accuses Centre of boosting criminals' morale

New Delhi: A day after a Delhi University student was stabbed to death outside Aryabhatta College, the AAP on Monday claimed that crimes have increased in the national capital and accused the BJP-led Centre of boosting the morale of criminals.

The first-year student of the university's School of Open Learning was allegedly stabbed to death in the South Campus after he objected to his girlfriend being harassed by another student, police said on Sunday.

Priyanka Kakkar, the AAP's chief spokesperson, said at a press conference, "Why is it happening in Delhi again and again? Law and order in Delhi come under a government that boosts the morale of criminals. Criminals who are declared absconders by the police appear on BJP forums after a few months."

The AAP leader further said, "They are not scared of the law. We have been asking the L-G about how many PCR vans have increased in Delhi and how many police stations he has visited. But he does not answer." The Lt Governor has control over public order, land and police in the national capital.

Kakkar also claimed that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had to struggle to even get CCTVs installed in the national capital.

"He had to sit on a dharna at the L-G office to get CCTV cameras installed. Now, the BJP is having a problem with the panic button. The BJP wants crimes to increase. I request you to ask Delhi L-G VK Saxena what steps he has taken to improve the law-and-order situation. Why is the law-and-order system going from bad to worse?" she asked.

Last week, the BJP alleged a Rs 500-crore scam involving panic buttons installed in private taxis and buses by the city government's Transport department through vendors. The Kejriwal government had dismissed the charge as "baseless".

On Sunday, in the aftermath of the killing of two women in RK Puram, Kejriwal said the national capital would have been the safest place had law and order been under the AAP dispensation instead of the Lt Governor.

His comments, however, drew a sharp reaction from Union Minister Meenakashi Lekhi, who claimed that Kejriwal does not understand the law. Harish Khurana, the spokesperson for the BJP's Delhi unit, on the other hand, accused him of trying to settle political scores with Saxena.