A shoe was hurled at chief minister Arvind Kejriwal at a press conference on Saturday by man who claimed to be from Aam Aadmi Sena, a breakaway group of AAP. However, the shoe did not hit the AAP chief as an official quickly shielded him.
The attacker, identified as Ved Prakash Sharma, said he is the general secretary of Aam Aadmi Sena and was angry with the chief minister for not taking action against those involved in alleged irregularities in distribution of CNG stickers.
Twenty-eight-year-old Sharma first interrupted Mr Kejriwal when he was briefing reporters at a media centre of the Delhi Secretariat about the roll out of the second phase of the odd-even scheme and then threw a shoe and a CD at the chief minister. His action led to commotion. The shoe did not hit Mr Kejriwal as it was quickly deflected by an official standing near the chief minister.
The attacker was thrashed by AAP volunteers before he was whisked away by the police after the incident at around 4.10 pm. The police said the man is a property dealer and a resident of Begampur in northwest Delhi. The police later arrested Mr Sharma after questioning.
Mr Sharma talked about alleged irregularities in distribution of CNG stickers which are required for CNG-run cars to get exemption from the restrictions of the odd-even scheme. He alleged that the stickers were being sold for Rs 1,000 each at a CNG station near CGO complex in Lodhi Road.
He also claimed he had done a sting operation about it on April 7 and that the CD contained it. Mr Kejriwal, later, continued with the press conference.
“Arvindji one minute please, I have conducted a sting on CNG sticker scam. One CNG sticker is being distributed for Rs 1,000. Why are you doing this Why don’t you take action against this ,” Mr Sharma said before throwing the shoe.
Reacting to the shoe attack, Mr Mishra claimed Mr Sharma had called a Delhi BJP leader before throwing his shoe at Mr Kejriwal. “Call details of Ved Prakash Sharma should be probed. He called BJP Delhi leader right before attacking,” Mr Mishra tweeted. The police said Mr Sharma’s call details are being checked.
When contacted Mr Mishra, he declined to divulge the details of the BJP leader with whom Mr Sharma was in touch.
A senior government official said that police should have checked identity cards of journalists attending the CM’s press conference
