The main reason for increasing crime in Delhi is corruption in the policing system "from bottom to top", the Aam Aadmi Party said on Monday, hitting back at the BJP which has sought the implementation of NRC to identify and evict illegal immigrants. The AAP said the Bharatiya Janata Party was raising the NRC issue to "divert" people's attention from the increasing crime rate in the national capital.

READ | BJP indulging in 'dirty politics' over Delhi's law & order: AAP

'BJP is making Delhi a jungle raj'

Senior party leader Gopal Rai said over 2,12,000 incidents of crimes have been reported this year till September. "I want to challenge the Centre, please reveal how many Bangladeshis or terrorists from Pakistan are involved in these cases and why they have not been arrested yet," Rai said.

"The BJP should release a white paper to make people know how many criminal cases are being solved in Delhi by police. The miserable failure of BJP is making Delhi a jungle raj," he said, alleging the BJP was not working for a solution to this problem. The Delhi police come under the Union Home Ministry and the ruling AAP has often said it wants control over the force.

Rai said when a snatching incident happened with the niece of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the whole police department "became hyperactive" and solved the case within 24 hours. "But what is the condition of the registered cases? Why not are the police working on those cases ?"

READ | Delhi CM clearance denied: AAP MP Sanjay Singh criticizes the Centre

'AAP will hold Pol Kholo Abhiyan'

"If the BJP does not reveal the reason for the increasing crimes and the police inaction then the AAP will hold 'pol kholo abhiyaan' to expose the BJP," the AAP leader said, adding, "the main reason behind such increasing crime is corruption present within the police system from bottom to top. Therefore, the BJP is bringing the NRC issue to divert the attention."

Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana said the issue of illegal immigrants living in Delhi is not new but AAP leaders are now trying to sweep it under the carpet.

READ | 'NRC very important, AAP's strategy revolves around lies': Javadekar

"The AAP is doing vote-bank politics and so avoiding the demand for NRC. It's an old issue which was raised even during the time of Madan Lal Khurana," he said.

The role of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and the Rohingya is not unknown and there have been cases where police have caught them in crimes, he added.

READ | AAP has learnt to compromise with corruption: Congress's Alka Lamba