Minutes after briefing Union home minister Rajnath Singh on the ink attack on chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi police commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi rubbished allegations of security lapse on Monda
Minutes after briefing Union home minister Rajnath Singh on the ink attack on chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi police commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi rubbished allegations of security lapse on Monday. “Any such allegations are misconceived and unfounded. I want to make it clear that necessary arrangements were made at the venue and there was no lapse in security,” the top cop said.
He said the woman, who threw ink at Mr Kejriwal, has been arrested under relevant provisions of the law, and investigation is underway in the matter. She was sent to one-day police custody by a Delhi court. Asked about Mr Kejriwal’s security, Mr Bassi did not share details and maintained that adequate security for the chief minister has always been in place and it shall continue to be so.
Mr Kejriwal has given jitters to the Delhi police by not following the mandated security cover given to him. The Delhi police has given a report to the Union home ministry indicating that the chief minister has been warding off his security detail on many occasions, asking them not to travel with him which has been causing significant worry among the security agencies. Sources in the government cited the instances shared by the Delhi police where on January 4, the chief minister left his residence at 9 pm with AAP leader Ashutosh, directing the security staff not to follow them and returned after travelling for an hour minus his security detail. In view of recent terror attack in Pathankot and high alert in Delhi, such kind of security lapses could be dangerous. The sources said on January 15, Mr Kejriwal went to attend marriage of son of MLA Shiv Charan Goel at night along with his security staff and about 10:30 pm he ordered the security staff to return and said he will return home on his own. He called his security staff the next day on January 16 at noon.
On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party continued its attack on the BJP and the Delhi police alleging that the ink attack on chief minister Kejriwal was part of a “big rehearsal” to possibly “physically harm” him in future and that deliberately lax security was being provided to him by the Delhi police.
The BJP hit back saying that deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s attempts to accuse the BJP and the police for the incident are “more condemnable.”
“We do not approve of such incidents, but on the other hand, the swiftness with which deputy CM Manish Sisodia started blaming the BJP and the police is more condemnable and raises suspicion whether the act was staged by the AAP itself,” Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay said.
AAP leader Ashutosh claimed that “not a single” securityperson escorted the Delhi chief minister, who comes in Z-plus category, during his recent train journey from Punjab to the national capital after addressing a public rally there.
“I can see a method or a pattern here. There’s a deep conspiracy and it’s a well-known fact that the Delhi police directly reports to the Prime Minister’s Office and not the home ministry,” he told reporters at a press conference at Mr Sisodia’s residence.
Twenty-six-year-old Bhavna Arora, who claimed to be the in-charge of the Punjab unit of Aam Aadmi Sena, threw ink at Mr Kejriwal at a public rally held on Sunday to celebrate the “success” of the odd-even scheme. The incident triggered angry reactions from the AAP government, which alleged a BJP conspiracy behind the attack and assailed the police for the major security lapse.
