Assault on Delhi chief secretary: Top Arvind Kejriwal aides turn government approver

New Delhi: In a new twist to the case of alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash, two top officials linked to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have now turned government approver, according to the Delhi Police.

Zee Media quoted Additional DCP (North) Harindra Singh as saying on Tuesday that Vibhav Kumar and Vivek Yadav - two top officials in the Delhi government - have turned approver in the case.

Vibhav Kumar is the personal secretary to CM Kejriwal and Vivek Yadav is his political secretary.

This comes a day after the Delhi Police named Chief Minister Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and 11 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs as accused in its chargesheet in connection with the case.

The chargesheet, which was filed in the Patiala House Court before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal on Monday, also mentioned Amanatullah Khan, Prakash Jarwal, Nitin Tyagi, Rituraj Govind, Sanjeev Jha, Ajay Dutt, Rajesh Rishi, Rajesh Gupta, Madan Lal, Parveen Kumar and Dinesh Mohania.

"On February 20, a case was registered on a complaint of Anshu Prakash. After completion of the investigation and upon collection of evidence on record, a chargesheet has been filed in the court," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Harinder Singh said.

The court will take cognizance of the chargesheet, filed on the basis of investigation conducted on the complaint of Anshu Prakash, on August 25.

The accused, charged under 13 sections, may get a maximum of a seven-year jail term if found guilty.

The accused have been charged under IPC sections -- 186 (obstructing a public servant), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant for doing his duty), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant to discharge his duties).

In the chargesheet, the police have charged the accused of insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, criminal intimidation, criminal conspiracy, the punishment of abetment and unlawful assembly among others.

While the Leader of Opposition, Vijender Gupta demanded Kejriwal`s and Sisodia`s resignation, saying "They have lost right to continue in their high offices and govern Delhi,'', the AAP leaders rejected the chargesheet as ''bogus'' and ''politically motivated.''

However, in a joint statement, Delhi cabinet ministers Gopal Rai, Satyendra Jain, Kailash Gahlot, Rajendra Pal Gautam and Imran Hussain called the chargesheet "bogus" and "politically motivated".

Stating that the chargesheet was based on "imaginary and false allegations", the ministers termed it a "witch-hunt against the Delhi government".

The ministers claimed the chargesheet would be torn to shreds when put to legal scrutiny.

The Delhi Chief Secretary had in February alleged that he was beaten up by AAP MLAs in the presence of Kejriwal at the Chief Minister`s residence on the night of February 19 where he had been called for a late-night meeting.

The case was filed the next morning and Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal were arrested and sent to judicial custody. Later, they were released on bail.

(With Agency Inputs)