CM questioned, won’t get video
CHIEF SECY ‘ASSAULT’ Police say Kejriwal avoided answering many queries, deputy CM Manish Sisodia too may be questioned
NEW DELHI: A six-member police team on Friday questioned Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for over three hours in connection with the alleged assault on chief secretary Anshu Prakash on February 19.
Police said Kejriwal was cooperative but avoided answering many questions. “Some of his replies were not satisfactory,” Harendra Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police (north), who was among those who interacted with the CM, said.
Singh said deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia too could be questioned in the coming days, “if required”. “We may question Kejriwal again if our probe requires it,” the additional DCP said.
The police recorded the entire proceedings on camera. However, they will not share the video with Kejriwal as he is not entitled to it as per the law under which he was questioned, the officer said.
Chief secretary Anshu Prakash had in February this year alleged that he had been roughed up by AAP MLAS in the presence of the chief minister during a midnight meeting at the CM’S residence.
After his questioning, Kejriwal issued a statement, thanking the police for questioning him under “achche vatavaran” (pleasant atmosphere).
“The police are not at fault. They are under great pressure to file a fake case (against us),” Kejriwal said.
Kejriwal was questioned in the drawing room of his residence at Flagstaff Road in Civil Lines from 5.10 pm to 8.30 pm. The venue and timing was as per Kejriwal’s choice.
Apart from Singh, the officers
He (Kejriwal) seemed to be deliberately holding back a lot of the information despite being in the room for the entire time the crime took place. AN INVESTIGATOR
who questioned Kejriwal included an assistant commissioner of police and four inspectors. Kejriwal had his two lawyers for company. “Only one lawyer is allowed in such a situation, but we let two advocates to be with him,” the officer said.
Aam Aadmi Party legislators such as Saurabh Bharadwaj, Akhilesh Pati Tripathi and Dinesh Mohania, along with the CM’S personal staff, waited outside the drawing room. Around a dozen policemen stood guard outside.
“We focused on the sequence of events leading to the alleged assault on the chief secretary and the people directly involved in the crime. We have certain vital information related to the assault case and will connect the dots with whatever we could extract from the chief minister. But he seemed to be deliberately holding back a lot of the information despite being in the room for the entire time that the crime took place,” said another investigator.
Kejriwal said he and his party would continue to assist the police in every probe. “We will be acquitted in every case, just the way it has happened to all cases against us so far. This will happen because all the cases are fake and politically motivated,” he said.
Kejriwal’s former advisor VK Jain and private secretary Vibhav Kumar and some of the 11 MLAS who were present at the meeting in which the alleged crime took place had already been questioned.
In their notice to Kejriwal, the police justified his questioning saying the first information registered in connection with the alleged assault reflected that he was acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case.