Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has recommended a NIA probe into allegations that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP government received funding from ‘Sikhs for Justice’, a banned US-based Khalistani group.

AAP leader and Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj vehemently denied the allegations and said it was “another conspiracy” against Kejriwal.

According to the Lt Governor’s Secretariat, Saxena had received a complaint that AAP had received USD 16 million from pro-Khalistani groups for facilitating the release of 1993 Delhi blasts convict and terrorist Devendra Pal Bhullar and espousing pro-Khalistani sentiments.

He said that since the complaint was made against a Chief Minister and related to political funding received from a banned outfit, “the electronic evidence adduced by the complainant requires investigation, including forensic examination”.

The Lt Governor has also referred to the Ministry of Home Affairs, a letter written by Kejriwal to one Iqbal Singh in January 2014, mentioning that “the AAP government has already recommended to the President the release of Bhullar