Minister Imran Hussain assaulted inside Secretariat

NEW DELHI: Utter chaos unfolded inside the Secretariat here on Tuesday, after Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain was manhandled by a mob by over a hundred officials and staff of Delhi government, hours after Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash was allegedly manhandled at the Chief Minister's residence.

The officials and staff raised slogans and prevented Hussain from taking the elevator to his sixth-floor office at the Secretariat Tuesday afternoon, with police personnel soon arriving to escort him to his office, sources said.

Speaking about the incident, Hussain said, "I don't know whether they were government employees, but I will identify them." The minister later filed a complaint at IP Estate police station, saying that he was assaulted.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party also released a video clip showing Hussain being roughed up, while his APA Himanshu Singh was thrashed by a section of the agitating staff.

However, Deepak Bharadwaj, general secretary of the Delhi Government Employees Association, refuted the allegations and claimed that the minister arrived when sloganeering was going on but nobody manhandled him.

Hundreds of government officials gathered at the second floor of the Delhi Secretariat, demanding an FIR against AAP MLAs, who allegedly assaulted the Chief Secretary.

Prakash was allegedly manhandled at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence Monday night, an official said, even as the Chief Minister's office dismissed the accusation as "bizarre and baseless".