Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s advisor VK Jain saw MLAs surrounding Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash and physically assaulting him in the presence of the Chief Minister on Monday, the Delhi Police told a magistrate on Thursday.
Jain had first told the police the Chief Secretary was not assaulted in his presence. However, in his new statement recorded before a magistrate on Thursday, Jain said he had left the room to go to the washroom, and when he returned, he saw MLAs beating up Prakash. He said he saw Prakash’s glasses on the floor.
The new statement comes two days after Prakash claimed legislators Prakash Jarwal and Amanatullah Khan manhandled him. Both MLAs have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
Senior Aam Aadmi Party leaders have alleged the police pressurised Jain to change his statement. Jain, a witness in the case, was questioned for hours by the Delhi Police on Wednesday.
“He [Jain] was pressured into changing his statement,” senior AAP leader Ashutosh said. “How is it that the same Mr Jain who emphatically said yesterday he witnessed no assault during the entire time that he was present there has now claimed otherwise?”
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