The Delhi Police on Monday told a court in the national Capital that the closed circuit television footage obtained from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence had discrepancies in the timings, ANI reported. The court was hearing the matter of the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash. The police said the footage will be sent for forensic examination.
Prakash has accused two Aam Aadmi Party MLAs of assaulting him during a meeting at the chief minister’s house on February 19. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Harendra Singh said that the meeting between Prakash, Kejriwal and AAP legislators was held not in the chief minister’s camp office but in his drawing room.
Prakash’s time of arrival at Kejriwal’s house, as submitted by the police earlier, did not match with the CCTV footage timings, The Indian Express reported. Citing the CCTV footage timings, the defence said that the chief secretary had entered and left the location between 11.24 pm and 11.31 pm on February 19. However, the police had earlier told the court, quoting from the statement of Kejriwal’s advisor VK Jain, that Prakash had arrived past midnight.
Additional DCP Harendra Singh told the court that Jarwal has in the past intimidated junior officials. The prosecution alleged that the MLA was a history-sheeter. The court then reserved its order for Tuesday.
On Friday, the police had searched Kejriwal’s home for the CCTV footage and said that 14 out of the 21 cameras were operational, but running behind time. There were no cameras in the room in which the alleged assault took place, the police said.
On the same day, the court had rejected the bail petitions of Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal, the two AAP MLAs accused of assaulting the chief secretary. However, Metropolitan Magistrate Shefali Barnala Tandon refused to grant the police further custody of the two legislators.
Government employees body demands action against Kejriwal
A joint forum of the Delhi government employees on Monday appealed to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Commissioner of Police Amulya Patnaik to take action against Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the case, PTI reported.
The forum passed a resolution stating that they will continue to work with AAP ministers through written communication only until Kejriwal and Sisodia give a “specific written and public apology”. They also demanded that the two ministers ensure that steps are taken for the personal safety and dignity of the officers.
“Instead of apologising and admitting their mistake of assault on the chief secretary at midnight, the chief minister and his deputy are in denial mode,” the resolution stated. “This shows that they were a part of the conspiracy and since they are specifically identified in the FIR, we appeal to LG and the commissioner of police to take action as per law against them.”
The forum also condemned that there had been more incidents of public representatives misbehaving with and threatening government servants.
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