Chief secretary says beaten in Kejriwal’s presence by latter’s legislators
Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash alleged in a police complaint on Tuesday that he was beaten by some Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators at the official residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and in his presence, around midnight on Monday.
Subsequently, an AAP minister and another party leader alleged they were manhandled inside the Delhi secretariat by supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, officials and staff of the Delhi government said they raised slogans against the AAP leadership to protest the treatment to Prakash.
BJP’s Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari accused the AAP of “urban Naxalism”. Congress Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken demanded an apology from Kejriwal for the “hooliganism” and said the attack on Prakash was an attempt by the AAP to divert public attention from failures to deliver its promises. AAP leaders accused the BJP of engineering the controversy to take attention from the ~114 billion bank fraud involving jeweller Nirav Modi.
A delegation of officers from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), DANICS and subordinate services of the Delhi government, which included the Delhi chief secretary, met Union Home minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday. The bureaucrats, some of whom also held a candlelight protest in the evening, alleged the attack on Prakash was “pre-planned and premeditated”.
“I’m deeply pained by the happenings involving the chief secretary of the Delhi government. Civil servants should be allowed to work with dignity and without fear ,” the home minister tweeted.
He said the ministry had sought a report on the incident from the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and “justice will be done”.
In his complaint to the police, Prakash alleged that he was asked to reach Kejriwal’s residence at midnight on Monday to discuss release of some television advertisements related to three years of the AAP government. He said Kejriwal, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and 11 AAP legislators were present.