Sacked AAP Minister's Aide, Accused Of Circulating Sex Tape, Detained

New Delhi: Delhi lawmaker Sandeep Kumar's close aide Praveen Kumar has been detained by the police after the former minister alleged that he had circulated the sex tape that lost him his job. 

Praveen Kumar is the Officer on Special Duty or OSD and a close friend of Sandeep Kumar, who was arrested over the weekend after a woman accused him of raping her and filming the video. A court today sent him to three more days in police custody, where he will be interrogated. 

Sandeep Kumar was sacked last week by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal after the sex tape became public. The Aam Aadmi Party suspended him on Saturday. Mr Kejriwal has accused the 36-year-old of "betraying AAP and our movement."
 
Mr Kumar has held that he is not the man seen on the sex video and that he is being  targeted "because I am a Dalit." His wife Ritu Kumar has backed him saying her husband has been "falsely implicated" and alleging a political conspiracy. 

The former minister's troubles deepened when a 40-year-old woman alleged on Saturday that she is the woman in the video and that she was drugged and raped by Mr Kumar before being filmed, about a year ago, when he was already Delhi's minister for woman and child development.       

Praveen Kumar was detained today from the gate of the Delhi Secretariat where he works. He is now being questioned, said the police, before they decide on making a formal arrest. 

Circulating sexual matter is a crime under Section 66A of the IT Act, which provides punishment for sending offensive messages through communication devices and services.