Ex-OSD to Ashok Gehlot held in 2020 phone-tapping case, granted bail

New Delhi: Delhi Police has arrested Lokesh Sharma, the former OSD to ex-Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, in a phone-tapping case of 2020 based on a complaint lodged by Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, officials said on Monday.

However, Sharma was granted bail soon after his arrest by the Crime Branch, police said.

In April this year, Sharma claimed that an audio clip of a purported telephonic conversation between Shekhawat and some Congress leaders discussing "toppling" the then Congress government in Rajasthan was given to him by Gehlot, the chief minister of the time.

In March 2021, Delhi Police registered an FIR against Sharma on charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, and unlawfully intercepting telephonic conversations on the complaint of Shekhawat.