Those who knew ‘attacker’ say he is troubled, kind
NEW DELHI: When Anil Kumar Sharma’s former neighbours in west Delhi’s Naraina heard news about him trying to attack Arvind Kejriwal with chilli powder on Tuesday, not all of them were surprised. Some said they were aware of his “unpredictable behaviour”, which also affected his personal relations.
“He would talk normally with us but would suddenly turn hyper without any provocation. We generally avoided conversing with him,” said Tribhuvan.
A few other neighbours agreed and claimed he suffers from mental health problems, something that is yet to be verified by the police.
Documents recovered from Sharma show he is a resident of Naraina. But when Hindustan Times visited the neighbourhood on Tuesday, his former landlord and neighbours said he had moved out of the neighbourhood two-three years ago and claimed to be unaware of his current address.
Sharma’s interrogators, too, said they were unsure of his residence. “Initially, he told us he lived in Naraina. He then claimed he moved to Rajouri Garden. Now he tells us he stays in a paying guest accommodation,” said Amit Sharma, additional deputy commissioner of police (central).
Brahm Singh, Sharma’s former landlord, said the suspect was a native of Jahangirpur in Uttar Pradesh. “He lost his father at a young age and had been living with his aunt in one of my buildings for years. He got married four-five years ago and moved with his wife and daughter to a small flat in another building I own,” Singh said.
According to JCP Khurana, Sharma was at the secretariat to seek financial help for his mother who suffers from tuberculosis. But his former neighbours seemed clueless about the mother’s whereabouts.
Singh and other neighbours remembered Sharma as a man who could operate a computer and worked at a grocery store. But, Rajesh Khurana, joint commissioner of police (central range), said Sharma has been working in the sales department of a private firm in Gurgaon for the last two years.
Not everyone in the neighbourhood had a bad experience with Sharma. “He would play cricket and fly kites with us. He even offered me free tuitions and once gave me a Hindi textbook for free,” said a local boy.
The local police, special cell and IB also conducted a “joint interrogation” of Sharma because of the “threats” he had issued to Kejriwal. “During the interrogation, he was found to be incoherent and mentally unsta- ble,” said Khurana.
But they did not reveal the trigger behind his violent behaviour on Tuesday.
“He responds to most of our questions with a ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ slogan. He keeps repeating that he is a loyal Indian and a true patriot. When we asked him about the chilli powder, he said he wanted to rub it on the chief minister’s face, but did not tell us the reason,” said ADCP Amit Sharma.
The police are checking the suspect’s background and his social media account to see if he was affiliated to any political party. The ADCP said Sharma has been denying links with any party.