Delhi Police registered a case after a vehicle labelled “Punjab government” was on Wednesday (January 29, 2025) intercepted with cash, liquor and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) pamphlets, an official said.

The vehicle bearing a Punjab number plate was caught by the Flying Squad team in the New Delhi district, the official said. The Flying Squad attends to all Model Code of Conduct violations and all complaints related to liquor, arms and cash used for elections.

The Punjab government dismissed claims that it owned the car intercepted in Delhi. The vehicle’s number plate was forged and fake as it could be tracked to a different car not owned by the Punjab government, it said. The AAP, too, released a statement, saying the car seizure was a “planted stunt, poorly executed and utterly bogus”.

Delhi Police said officials have initiated legal proceedings in the matter, and a case is being registered at Tilak Marg police station.

“Upon searching (the car), we discovered cash, multiple liquor bottles, and Aam Aadmi Party pamphlets inside the vehicle,” Delhi Police said in a statement.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, in a statement, expressed shock over the incident. He said ₹10 lakh cash, liquor and AAP election material was recovered from a Punjab government car in Delhi.

“Till now, we thought Arvind Kejriwal institutionalised corruption in Delhi government, polluted Yamuna and Delhi’s air but today we understand that he has polluted Delhi’s political system too,” Mr. Sachdeva said.

Mr. Sachdeva said he doesn’t remember a single incident of recovery of such a huge amount of cash and liquor in 35 years of public life.

In a statement, the Punjab government said the department of transport received information that a vehicle bearing Punjab’s registration number ‘PB35AE1342’ was intercepted in Delhi carrying illegal liquor and some unaccounted cash.