Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi law minister Somnath Bharti, wanted in a case of attempted murder, is switching phones and locations like a "hardened criminal", the police said on Thursday.
“We have an idea where he is hiding. We will reach him very soon and make him join the investigation,” senior police officer Deepender Pathak said.
According to sources, Bharti is believed to be hiding somewhere near Agra.
The former law minister failed to get protection from arrest from two separate courts and has now moved the Supreme Court, which will take up the case on Monday.
Till that time the police are free to arrest him.
Bharti has been accused by his wife Lipika Mitra of domestic violence and torture. She has alleged that he tried to strangulate her and ordered his pet dog to attack her when she was pregnant.
On Wednesday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal all but disowned Bharti in strongly worded tweets.
“Somnath shud surrender.Why is he running away?Why is he so scared of gng to jail? Now he is becoming embarasment for party n his family (sic),” he tweeted.
The police have been camping outside Bharti's residence. His brother Loknath Bharti and private secretary were questioned in connection with the case as well.
Last week, the AAP leader surfaced briefly when the court told the police not to arrest him until its order. During a string of interviews, Bharti denied the allegations against him and said: “I love my wife.”
Bharti kept his job as law minister during the previous 49-day AAP government despite a series of controversies that included a midnight raid targeting African women whom he accused of running a drugs racket.
Despite widespread condemnation of his conduct, Kejriwal and AAP defended him and said he acted with good intentions.
Kejriwal, however, did not include Bharti in his government when he returned to power in February after winning the Delhi election.
