Conman's story is a BJP tactic to blind Gujarat tragedy: Kejriwal

New Delhi: The conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar's claim that he had paid crores to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as 'protection money' met with a blunt denial by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, who said the BJP was trying to get rid of the mess over the Morbi bridge tragedy.

The tragedy that killed about 135 people, happened while the Assembly election is around the corner. The Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal also said that the BJP has been too stooped to seek a conman's help to find a way out of this tragedy.

"The BJP is planting a fake, fictitious and fabricated story to divert attention from the Gujarat Morbi bridge collapse. This is just BJP's tactic to divert people's focus from the bridge collapse," Kejriwal said.

Chandrashekhar is reported to have written a letter to Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena in which he claimed he had paid Satyendar Jain and Arvind Kejriwal.

"I have known Mr Satyendar Jain of AAP since 2015, and have contributed more than 50 crores to AAP in the promise of giving me an important post in the party in South zone, and also helping me to be nominated to Rajya Sabha following the expansion," Chandrashekhar's letter read.

The letter further said that "severely harassed and threatened" in jail and that he had to pay "protection money" to Satyendar Jain, who is also in Tihar Jail and Chandrashekhar was "asked to pay Rs 2 crore every month to him as protection money to live safely in jail and to get even basic facility provided".

Sukesh Chandrasekhar has been in jail since 2017 over charges of extorting money from high-profile personalities.