Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi on Monday met Union Home Minister Raj Nath Singh to apprise him of the developments in the ink throwing incident on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The Aam Aadmi Party on its part left no stone unturned to paint the Sunday incident as part of larger conspiracy by the BJP to assassinate its leader. Bassi who briefed the Home Minister about the incident said “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 Police Chief said 26-year-old Bhavna Arora, who threw ink at Kejriwal, has been arrested under relevant provisions of the law, and investigation is underway in the matter.
The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) also condemned the ink throwing incident on the Chief Minister by saying the attempt of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia to accuse BJP and police for the incident is “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 police is more condemnable and raises suspicion whether the act was staged by the AAP itself,” Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay said.
The Delhi BJP president pointed fingers at the AAP for encouraging anarchism in politics by promoting Jarnail Singh, a Khalistani supporter, to become an MlA, after he had thrown a shoe at the then Home Minister P Chidambaram.
Upadhyay said the allegations leveled by Bhavna Arora against the AAP Government over the sale of more than one lakh CNG stickers to non-CNG cars in Delhi exposes double standards of the Government. “AAP has emerged as more corrupt party than Congress,” he said.
Arora, a resident of Rohini area in Outer Delhi who claimed to be the in-charge of the Punjab unit of the Aam Aadmi Sena, reportedly hurled ink at Kejriwal while he was addressing civil defence volunteers and his party workers at Chhatrasal stadium on the successful completion of the odd-even scheme.
Delhi Police later arrested Arora after the investigating officer (IO) sought permission from a duty magistrate in view of the protocol to arrest a woman post sunset. She was produced before a court which sent her to one-day police custody.
Metropolitan Magistrate Sunil Kumar remanded Arora to police custody till Tuesday after Delhi Police submitted that her custodial interrogation was required to unearth the truth behind the incident.
In an in-camera proceeding, the IO told the court that Arora’s custody was required to investigate whether there were other persons behind this incident and whether her act as part of a larger plan. Arora’s coundel however, opposed the police’s custody plea and sought bail for the client.
Arora has been booked under sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Pencal Code (IPC).
An unrelenting AAP upped the ante and branded the ink attack on Kejriwal as part of a “big rehearsal” to possibly “physically harm” him in future and the Delhi Police was not serious in providing security to him.
AAP leader Ashutosh claimed that “not a single” security person 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 Delhi Police directly reports to the Prime Minister’s Office and not the Home Ministry,”.