Days after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to topple its government in Punjab by offering Rs 25 crore to each its legislators for switching loyalties, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Saturday demanded the Chandigarh Police to seize the mobile phones of AAP legislators who have accused the BJP of offering money and subject them to forensic examination to probe the allegations.

Senior SAD leaders N K Sharma and Parambans Singh Romana today submitted a complaint to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Chandigarh, stating that allegations levelled by the AAP that an attempt was made to purchase its legislators at the instance of Home Minister Amit Shah were very serious and needed to be probed thoroughly.

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“If the allegations are correct, then the cases should be registered against the BJP leaders or middlemen involved. However, if they prove to be wrong, FIRs should be registered against all the AAP’s Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) as well as Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema and other senior leaders who have made the bribery claims,” Sharma said.

He said that since the calls and some of the incidents and press conferences were held in the city, the Chandigarh Police had every right to probe the matter.

“One of the MLAs Sheetal Anugral has also claimed that he was attacked and that a death threat had also been made to his person. This allegation should also be probed and the MLA should be asked to disclose the time and place of attack as well as the specific death threat,” Sharma said.

Asserting that the issue also concerned the dignity of Punjabis, the SAD leader said that an impression has been given that legislators of Punjab are ready to sell themselves to the BJP. He said the allegations themselves were suspect as the BJP could not make its legislator the chief minister by purchasing ten or even more legislators.

“There could be a conspiracy to rake this issue for political gain. The AAP seems bent on showing that while Congress legislators are saleable, its legislators both in Delhi and Punjab are standing like a rock behind the party and have even rebuffed attempts to purchase their loyalty,” he said.