COPS RAID CM’S HOUSE; SISODIA SAYS BAIJAL WILL SPEAK TO BABUS
CHIEF SECY ASSAULT Police seize hard disks containing footage from 21 CCTV cameras, AAP says no prior notice given before search
NEWDELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, locked in a bitter battle with its own bureaucracy, said on Friday that it will ensure that no such incident happens in future that could lead to an administrative crisis in Delhi as is prevailing now.
This was hours after Delhi Police searched chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence to probe the alleged assault on chief secretary Anshu Prakash by AAP MLAs.
A team of 55 police personnel entered Kejriwal’s Flagstaff Road residence at 11.15 am and took away hard disks containing recordings of 21 CCTV cameras after a search of more than two hours.
While the police found that the camera recordings were over 40 minutes behind the actual time, the AAP reacted sharply and called the search a violation of law as there was no prior intimation.
Soon after the search began, Kejriwal broke his three-day silence over the fiasco surrounding the Delhi government’s top bureaucrat by saying that an investigation should happen in the case.
NEW DELHI: A 55-strong police team on Friday swooped down on chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence in north Delhi’s Civil Lines to look for ‘scientific evidence’ in the case of alleged assault on chief secretary Anshu Prakash.
The police team searched every nook and corner of the chief minister’s house and seized hard disks containing footage from 21 CCTV cameras.
Kejriwal, his wife and parents were at the Flagstaff Road residence when the police entered the premises around 11.15am.
The police, however, denied holding up the chief minister during the search operation or even interacting with him. Kejriwal left for a public function in Bindapur mid-way during the search.
While a detailed analysis of the footage will be conducted in the next few days, Harender Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police (north), said seven of the 21 CCTV cameras were found to be switched off.
“Our forensics team will be able to say when and under what circumstances these cameras were switched off or began malfunctioning,” said Singh, who led the operation.
The additional DCP also pointed out that all 21 cameras were found to be slow by 40 minutes and 43 seconds and claimed that the forensics team would be able to say when the timings in the cameras were last reset.
“As per our records, the alleged offence happened between midnight and 12.15am on Monday,” said the officer. One video clip, obtained from the CCTV footage, has shown the chief secretary, Anshu Prakash, leaving the CM’s residence around 11.30pm on Sunday.
Aam Aadmi Party’s counsel, BS Joon, downplayed the controversy over the difference in timings in the CCTVs.
“It does not matter what the timing of the incident was. We have told the court that the incident was of eight minutes and seven seconds,” said Joon.
AAP spokesperson, Ashutosh, refused to believe the police had come looking for just CCTV footage. “The police were trying to find out when the walls of the residence were last painted,” he said.
The additional DCP said police were compelled to search the CM’s residence after investigators attempts to seek CCTV footage on February 20 were met with no response.
The officer said the maintenance staff had been intimated about the police’s visit.
AAP staffers inside the residence claimed that the policemen even peeped inside bathrooms and searched porta cabins. Police even checked the freshness of the wall paints and looked for repair works in the room .
“We visited all the places where the complainant said he had been to that night. There were no CCTV cameras in the room where the assault happened. We were checking if any CCTV cameras had been taken off. But we did not find any fresh paint ,” said the officer.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Hansraj Gangaram Ahir on Friday hinted that Arvind Kejriwal may be questioned by the police in the case. “The police will question all those in whose presence the incident took place,” he said.