BJP vs AAP: Delhi AAP MLAs Arrested, But Minister’s Attackers Still At Large

Late on Tuesday night, Delhi Police arrested Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Prakash Jarwal for allegedly attacking Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash during a meeting at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Monday night. In a recent development, another legislator Amanatullah Khan has surrendered to the charges of manhandling the senior bureaucrat.

But cops are yet to take any action against those who allegedly attacked AAP leaders Imran Hussain, Ashish Khetan and their security personnel inside Delhi’s high-security state secretariat. A mob of over a hundred of people reached the ground floor of the Delhi Secretariat building on Tuesday and allegedly attacked the two leaders along with their security men one by one when they were waiting for the elevator to come. Surprisingly, the city police, who are responsible for the security of the chief minister’s office, allegedly acted like a mute spectator.

“I went to the secretariat like every normal day and when I was entering the building, a large mob of more than 150 people was gathered in the lobby of the secretariat. It was around 1 pm. I was waiting for the elevator to come, a group of around 30 people ran towards me, shouting slogans such as ‘BJP Zindabad’ (long live BJP) and ‘Maro, Maro’ (beat, beat). Luckily, I had my personal security officer and two of my staff members. They bodily protected me by surrounding and making a human chain and taking the blows on their bodies. When they realised the lift was taking time to come down and the mob was extremely aggressive, they took me to another elevator which is on the rear side. When I entered the elevator, the mob tried to enter and drag me out. But my security man and the other staff managed to force me inside and closed the door of the lift,” Khetan told Newsclick. He questioned the Delhi Police for the security lapse in a “high-security zone”.

Asked if they were BJP workers who attacked him, he said, “It is a matter of investigation. I have lodged my complaint. Let the police conduct an inquiry and arrest the culprits. For a mob to gather there and make Delhi Secretariat a rioting place …. on whose behest was it done? There were workers from outside. Who instigated and encouraged them?”

In a similar allegation, the minister Hussain too said he was also physically assaulted by the mob when was going to his office. “When I was going to my office, secretariat employees in the building plaza told me that they have been asked to teach AAP ministers and MLAs a lesson for what they (the AAP leaders) have done with the chief secretary. They forcefully stopped me and held me captive inside the lift. I was dragged out of the lift and my cell phone was snatched and broken. They even threatened to kill me. They abused and beat me up along with my staff Rana Markandey Singh alias Himanshu. They told me that I won’t be allowed to work in my office at the secretariat. I managed to come out of the building after a lot of effort. I can recognise who were involved in the attack,” he said in a police complaint, a copy of which has been accessed by Newsclick.

Video footage of the secretariat lobby, which is in possession of this website, confirms the allegation. A huge crowd of more than a hundred of people can be seen heckling and punching the leaders. The slogan of ‘Maro, Maro’ can be heard in the video but not ‘BJP Zindabad’. The footage shows that there were no attempts to disperse the mob or control the situation.

Earlier in the day, Chief Secretary Prakash told the police in his complaint, a copy of which is available with Newsclick, that he was assaulted by Amanatullah Khan in the presence of CM and several others. This happened after he was asked to explain why certain TV advertisements relating to completion of three years of the current government in Delhi were not approved by him.

The police have lodged an FIR under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) such as 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 120B (criminal conspiracy), etc.

Khan, who has now surrendered, had earlier denied the allegation regarding assault on Delhi chief secretary, saying that “nothing went wrong at all in February 19 meeting at the chief minister’s residence. All allegations are completely baseless and fabricated. The agenda of the meeting was to deliver the proper food supply to the poor citizen of Delhi. The behavior of the chief secretary was ruthless, irresponsible and sarcastic and politically motivated”.

Asked to respond to charges of assault and criminal intimidation by the chief secretary, GK MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj said, “Nothing as alleged took place. Yes, there was heated argument between him and the legislators when the former told them that he was accountable to L-G (lieutenant governor), not to MLAs. How can a public servant claim that he is not answerable to elected representatives? He is in an electoral democracy.”

Rubbishing the charges against the party legislators, Khetan said, “News is planted that the chief secretary was manhandled. At 12 noon, office bearers of IAS officers’ associations and allied services start giving statements against the AAP government. At 1 p.m., Imran Hussain and I are attacked at the secretariat. At 4 p.m., the Union home minister (Rajnath Singh) gives a political statement. Isn’t this all orchestrated by the BJP?”

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday extended support to the chief secretary on the alleged incident of physical assault on him and said in a series of tweets on Tuesday afternoon that “the civil servants should be allowed to work with dignity and without fear... The MHA has sought a report on the incident from the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. Justice will be done”.

Meanwhile, a delegation of three IAS associations – the IAS, the DANICS and the Subordinate Sevices of Delhi government – met the home minister on Tuesday and apprised him of the prevailing situation. Condemning the incident, the associations termed it a “pre-meditated” and having the “backing of both Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia”.

Calling it a functional crisis amounting to breakdown of governance, the officers’ bodies urged expeditious action against the perpetrators.