Bharti should step down as Delhi law minister: NGO

Hitting out at Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti for his alleged role in the late night raid against African women in the national capital, an NGO today said here that the AAP leader should immediately resign from his post.
Addressing a press conference, Amod K. Kanth, the general secretary of the NGO, Prayas, alleged that the said raid had been illegal.
Kanth, a former IPS officer, said that his NGO had set up a committee of its own to probe the matter which had found that the law minister's raid attempt at holding the raid had been illegal.
"Due to the late night raid, (the African) women had to suffer.

"The crowd, which was with the law minister, allegedly molested, assaulted and slapped them," Kanth told reporters here.
He said that the DSP of the area had told him that there was no specific complaint about any drug and prostitution racket in the Khirki Extension area.

"Naturally, the raid could not have been conducted under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956, which requires a special police officer or a trafficking police officer.
"The procedure laid down under Section 15 of the ITP Act was violated by the unlawful mob led by the law minister," he further alleged.
Kanth also slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for backing Bharti.

On Thursday night, a group of AAP activists and Malviya Nagar residents led by Bharti went to Khirki Extension to carry out raids against Ugandan and Nigerian nationals on the charge that they were involved in a drugs and prostitution racket.
The African women alleged that they had faced rough treatment by the mob with a Delhi court today asking police to file an FIR against Bharti and others over the incident.