Arvind Kejriwal's advisor saw AAP MLAs assaulting chief secretary Anshu Prakash, Delhi police tells court

Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash has alleged that he was manhandled by a few AAP MLAs at the CM's residence in presence of Arvind Kejriwal.

(File image of Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash) Pic courtesy: PTI

New Delhi: The Delhi police told a court on Thursday that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's advisor VK Jain has given contradictory statements about the alleged attack on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash by Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) legislators.

It has said that "new facts" have emerged after the interrogation of Jain, who disclosed that MLAs Prakash Jarwal and Amanutullah Khan surrounded the chief secretary and he saw them assaulting the senior bureaucrat, additional public prosecutor Atul Shrivastava told Metropolitan Magistrate Shefali Barnala Tondon.

Jain had previously said he had not seen anything as he had gone to the washroom at the time of the incident on Monday night.

"New facts have emerged in the case. The advisor to the CM is being interrogated and his statement under section 164 of the CrPC has been recorded. He has given us four names. The police custody of both the MLAs is required to unearth the whole conspiracy," the prosecutor said moving a fresh plea for their custody, PTI reported.

Khan and Jarwal were on Thursday sent to a 14-day judicial custody in Tihar Jail by the court, which reserved its order on their bail pleas for Friday.

During the hearing, Shrivastava told the court that Jain had called the chief secretary for a meeting at 08:45 pm on Monday and at 10:00 pm the officer confirmed to him that he would attend the meeting.

Advocate Rajiv Mohan, appearing for Prakash, also supported the plea for police custody, saying the alleged attack on the officer was pre-meditated and was witnessed by the CM's adviser.

In his statement, Jain said when the meeting started, Kejriwal said that MLAs wanted to discuss certain issues but randomly all of them started questioning the chief secretary about the delay in the release of funds for AAP government's media publicity on its achievement in education and fighting corruption.

Jain was picked up by the Delhi Police on Wednesday morning from his residence at Maharani Bagh in connection with the case.

The chief secretary has alleged in his complaint that he was sitting on a sofa flanked by Khan and another AAP MLA during the meeting.

"Khan and the other MLA, without provocation from my side started hitting and assaulting me with blows on my head and temple," he alleged in his complaint.

Delhi: Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash's complaint letter to Police over yesterday's incident pic.twitter.com/zvdsNGatIN — ANI (@ANI) February 20, 2018

However, AAP has claimed that the chief secretary had been called for a discussion on rations.

AAP's response to false allegations by Chief Secretary

pic.twitter.com/dl3M2MrXW6 — AAP (@AamAadmiParty) February 20, 2018

AAP countered the allegation with a statement that about 2.5 lakh families were deprived of rations last month due to faulty Aadhaar implementation and party MLAs were under tremendous pressure from the public.

"There was a meeting of MLAs at the CM's residence. The CS refused to answer questions, saying that he was not answerable to MLAs and the CM, and that he was answerable only to the LG. He (Prakash) even used bad language against some of the MLAs and left without answering any questions," the party claimed in a statement.

It described as "false information" claims that the meeting and the argument were about TV ads.

"Now he (CS) is making such ludicrous allegations. Obviously, he is doing it at BJP’s behest. The BJP has stooped very low in disrupting governance in Delhi through the LG and officers. If the CS can make such wild allegations, one can imagine the kind of obstacles that are being created in AAP government’s work by the BJP through the officers," it said.

(With PTI inputs)