Chief secy alleges assault by AAP MLAs; CMO calls it 'bizarre and baseless'
BY Roushan Ali & Sayantan Ghosh21 Feb 2018 12:00 AM IST
Roushan Ali & Sayantan Ghosh21 Feb 2018 12:00 AM IST
NEW DELHI: In a sensational claim, Delhi chief secretary Anshu Prakash has alleged that he was assaulted by two Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lawmakers in the presence of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal after being called for a meeting at midnight. He has also filed an FIR or police complaint. Senior AAP leader Ashish Khetan, also alleged that it was he who had been manhandled during a protest by officers at the Delhi Secretariat by officers. The protest continued till Tuesday evening as hundreds of officers marched to Kejriwal's home with candles.
In his complaint, Anshu Prakash says "the assault was premeditated and in a conspiracy of all present... None of the persons present in the room made any effort to save me." Home Minister Rajnath Singh has sought a report.
The IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officers' association has demanded the arrest of the AAP lawmakers and announced that officers would wear black bands to work.
The chief minister's office dismissed the accusation as "bizarre and baseless".
AAP calls the allegations "ludicrous"; it says the chief secretary had been called at 10 pm, but he came two hours late for discussions on a subject that was "deeply worrying" for MLAs - the faulty implementation of Aadhaar that left lakhs without food. The ruling party denied that its meeting was on ads.
"He even used bad language against some MLAs and left without answering any questions," said AAP in tweets. A leader said the CCTV footage proves that the chief secretary was "perfectly fine" when he left the residence and was "even followed by an MLA who tried to talk to him".
Utter chaos unfolded inside the secretariat here on Tuesday as over a hundred officials and staff mobbed Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain.
Officials and staff of the Delhi government raised slogans and prevented Hussain from taking the elevator to his 6th-floor office at the secretariat this afternoon.
Later, police had to escort the minister to his office, sources said.
The AAP government also released a video showing Hussain being roughed up while his APA Himanshu Singh thrashed by a section of the agitating staff.
Hundreds of government officials gathered at the second floor of the Delhi Secretariat, demanding that FIR is lodged against AAP MLAs, who allegedly assaulted the chief secretary.
Meanwhile, AAP MLA Ajay Dutt, who was present at the meeting on Monday, in an email to the commissioner of police alleged that Anshu Prakash "abused" and used "casteist" remarks against him and another MLA Prakash Jarwal.
Demanding an FIR against the chief secretary, Dutt said he had asked Prakash about complaints regarding ration distribution in his constituency (Ambedkarnagar), but the CS misbehaved and left the meeting.
Meanwhile, in a late night development, AAP MLA Prakash Jarwal was reportedly detained. The AAP MLA was named by the chief secretary in his FIR.See also inside
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