‘Police pressured Jain to blame MLAS’
STANDOFF AAP alleges that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal aide VK Jain changed statement under duress, says he was not in the meeting
NEWDELHI: The AAP saw a conspiracy in the what they claimed was a change of statement made by senior aide to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, VK Jain, saying that he saw some AAP MLAS heckling Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash at a meeting at CM’S residence.
“On Wednesday, VK Jain gave a statement saying he was in the washroom and couldn’t say what transpired in that period as the chief secretary had left when he returned. Today, Jain is changing his statement. It is clear that the episode is part of a larger conspiracy in which BJP wants to destabilise the Delhi government,” said Sanjay Singh, AAP’S Rajya Sabha member.
The Delhi Police on Thursday quoted Jain as saying in a statement that “he had witnessed two Aam Aadmi Party MLAS “physically assaulting” the Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash.
Jain later appeared before a magistrate and gave his statement under 164 CRPC, said advocate BS Joon, who is representing the two AAP MLAS arrested in connection with the alleged assault. According to Dependra Pathak, Delhi Police’s chief spokesperson, Jain’s statement to the police was corroborated by his statement to the magistrate, and was admissible in court.
The AAP, however, alleged that Jain had denied any assault in his initial statement to the police on Wednesday and any change in his statement on Thursday was due to “duress under police pressure”. Harendra Kumar Singh, additional DCP (north), said that a copy of the statement (allegedly given by Jain to the police on Wednesday) circulated by the AAP was “forged”. AAP leaders said the document shared by them was from a police file and was recorded under 161 CRPC on Wednesday.
Pathak said Jain in his statement before the magistrate has claimed that the assault was such that the spectacles of the chief secretary fell off. “Jain said he was returning from the washroom when he saw a seated Khan and Jarwal physically assaulting the chief secretary. They were asking the chief secretary why he wasn’t working,” said Pathak, about the statement. “They then pushed him away, heckled him and pressed his jaws while questioning him about his working,” Pathak added, quoting the statement.
Jain’s statement is important to the case since it was he who had allegedly called the chief secretary for the midnight meeting. He has already been questioned by the police for two consecutive days. Phone calls and text messages to Jain went unanswered.
The chief secretary had approached the police on Tuesday, alleging that he was assaulted by a group of MLAS during a midnight meeting at Kerjriwal’s residence. The police had arrested MLAS Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal on Wednesday.
When their bail applications came up for hearing at the Tis Hazari Court on Thursday, the Delhi Police again sought their custody, citing revelations by Jain. “Stating that fresh facts have emerged and they need to be probed, the police moved a fresh application seeking custody of the accused,” said public prosecutor, Atul Srivastava, who represented the Delhi Police in court.