Police grills another AAP MLA, others also in list

New Delhi: AAP MLA Rajesh Rishi was on Thursday questioned for nearly two hours by the police in connection with the alleged assault on Delhi government’s chief secretary Anshu Prakash. Two AAP MLAs — Nitin Tyagi and Rajesh Rishi — were summoned by the police for questioning at Civil Lines police station by 4pm.

While Mr Tyagi, the Laxmi Nagar MLA, excused himself saying he was in Kolkata and sought a week’s time to appear for questioning, Mr Rishi had failed to reach the Civil Lines police station by the stipulated time citing illness, the police said.

He, however, reached the police station around 6pm and joined the questioning by police. The questioning with Rishi ended after two hours. Some more AAP MLAs are likely to be summoned after Holi, a police officer said.

The role of Mr Tyagi and Mr Rishi in the alleged assault on chief secretary Prakash is under investigation as they were present at chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence, where the alleged assault happened on the night of February 19-20.

Eleven MLAs, apart from Kejriwal, his adviser V.K. Jain and deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, were present during the meeting at Mr Kejriwal’s residence when Mr Prakash was allegedly attacked.

On February 23, a police team examined the CCTV surveillance system installed at the chief minister’s residence in Civil Lines area and seized the hard disk. Two other AAP MLAs — Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal — were arrested and are now in judicial custody in connection with the case. Jain was also questioned in connection with the alleged assault.

The alleged assault on the chief secretary has triggered a bitter tussle between the Delhi government and its bureaucracy.

Deputy chief minister Sisodia on Wednesday accused lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal of siding with the government officers.