New Delhi/IBNS: In a turn of events Monday, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has called for a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into allegations against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal receiving political funding from the banned Sikhs For Justice group founded by wanted terrorist Gurpatwant Pannun.

Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party has hit back swiftly with leader Saurabh Bhardwaj dismissing the call for a probe by the anti-probe agency as a "conspiracy" against the party and its leader.

"LG sir is an agent of the BJP... This is another big conspiracy against Chief Minister Kejriwal at the behest of the BJP," he said in a brief statement.

The allegations are the latest in a long-running tug-of-war between the AAP and the Centre.

It comes less than three weeks before the national capital votes in the general election. In 2019 the BJP won all Delhi's seven seats.

In a detailed letter to the Union Home Secretary, Saxena referred to a video (which he said was enclosed with the missive) in which Pannun declared that Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party "received a staggering amount of $16 million in funding from Khalistani groups..."

"... Kejriwal purportedly promised to facilitate release of Devender Pal Bhullar, in return for substantial financial backing from Khalistani factions to Aam Aadmi Party..." the LG's letter said, citing a complaint from a Hindu religious body and tweets by a former AAP worker.

The AAP boss reportedly received money to "espouse pro-Khalistani sentiments", he claimed,

Bhullar, a former professor, was convicted in the 1993 Delhi bomb blasts case. In 2001 he was given the death sentence but that was later commuted to life imprisonment.

Kejriwal is already in jail over corruption charges in the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam investigated by the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation.

The Delhi CM and the AAP have denied all charges, labelling them acts of "political vendetta" by the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election.