Chandigarh/Mohali, November 13: The death threat and Rs 7 crore extortion demand against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal and his daughter Harshita has taken a political turn in Punjab. Punjab Cabinet Minister Harpal Singh Cheema alleged that preliminary findings pointed to the accused's direct or indirect association with the BJP. That is an AAP allegation — no such link has been stated on record by the police.

AAP Punjab chief spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal also condemned the threat and said a ransom demand of Rs 7 crore had been made by a gangster in connection with it. Punjab Police said the accused belongs to Haryana and an FIR had been registered in Mohali.

What actually happened: The threat did not reach Kejriwal directly, according to the reports. On November 6, AAP's Tilak Nagar (Delhi) MLA Jarnail Singh received a phone call and WhatsApp messages from an unknown number. The caller claimed to be speaking for the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and told Singh to pass on a message: pay Rs 7 crore or Kejriwal and his daughter would be killed. On Singh's complaint, Mohali's Cyber Crime Police Station registered a case against an unidentified person under BNS sections 308(4) (extortion), 351(2), 351(3) and 351(4) (criminal intimidation) and 111(2) (organised crime), along with provisions of the IT Act. Inspector Sunil Kumar is investigating.

The key caveat: The caller only *claimed* to be from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Police have not confirmed any link to the gang, and no one from the gang has publicly claimed the threat.

The hoax reports: Some later reports, attributed to IANS and Dainik Bhaskar, said the investigation had traced the caller to Rohtak in Haryana and found the threat to be a hoax by someone misusing the gang's name; one report described the caller as a retired clerk from Rohtak with no ties to organised crime. However, a detailed explainer reviewing the FIR and the reporting noted that no police officer had confirmed the hoax account on record, and the caller had not been named. The hoax claim therefore also remains at the level of reporting, not established fact.

The two public claims — AAP's BJP-link allegation and the hoax reports — do not sit together, and neither has been established by an on-record police finding. The investigation is ongoing.

Why it matters: Months before the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections, the case has become a fresh AAP-BJP flashpoint over law and order and gangsterism — but who the caller was, and whether he had any gang or party link at all, is still a question for the police investigation, not a settled fact.

The original threat complaint and the Mohali police case were reported earlier. Read the earlier report