Mumbai: The Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) leader in Maharashtra on Monday alleged that some former party members were using a young woman volunteer of the party to falsely accuse its senior national leader Mayank Gandhi and others of baseless charges.

Following news reports that Gandhi, along with five others, had been booked on charges of abetting sexual harassment after a 21-year-old party volunteer filed a criminal complaint against them in Mumbai, AAP members reacted angrily and held a press conference.

They claimed there was a conspiracy behind the case.

“It is becoming clear that those unable to fight fair political battles resort to slander and defamation to malign AAP leaders,” said Preeti Sharma-Menon, state AAP leader.

In Gandhi’s case, the complainant was totally unaware that his name was being mentioned as accused, she said.

The victim was encouraged to file a police complaint by a certain group of people led by Sunil Shukla, who were AAP members but quit AAP on September 18, 2014, the party said.

Menon said they did not tell the woman they had quit AAP and took her on September 19 to file the complaint.

“She accused one Tarun Singh of harassment and mentioned in her statement that the moment she brought the matter to Gandhi, he suspended the youth and initiated an inquiry.”

Being totally unaware of how complaints are filed at the police station, “the conspirators assured her they knew the process. It took more than six hours for the police to record her statement and she was getting very late. The conspirators along with police made the poor lady sign a blank First Information Report (FIR) forms and assured her she could leave! She left without any copy of her statement or FIR,” Menon said.

According to the AAP, the group ‘twisted’ the victim’s statement and added the names of Gandhi, state leader Ruben Mascarenhas and AAP volunteer Vinay Mishra. The victim was shocked when she learnt through social media and expressed that she had made no complaint against them of molestation, harassment or intimidation.

She then approached seniors in the party and explained how she was misled totally and was distraught that she was being blamed for maligning them, the party said.

On their advice, she met the Joint Commissioner Law and Order, Mumbai Police, and submitted a letter requesting the police to take immediate action against the accused, Tarun Singh and remove the names of Gandhi, Mascarenhas and Mishra from the FIR “as I have never put them in my complaint.” She has also sought protection of misuse of her name and prevention of it going to the media.