Targeting the Delhi Police and Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal on Thursday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) blamed them for not acting on the complaints of assault on Delhi Minister Imran Hussain and Delhi Dialogue Commission Vice-Chairman Ashish Khetan. The party alleged that this was a ploy by the BJP to destabilise the Delhi government.
Addressing the media at the party headquarters, AAP leader Ashutosh said that AAP MLAs — Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal — were arrested based on a statement by Chief Secretary that he was manhandled, but, despite producing videos of the attackers who heckled and beat up Mr. Hussain, Mr. Khetan and their staff, no action was being taken by the police.
He also questioned the veracity of the medico-legal case (MLC) report of Mr. Prakash and said attempts are being made to destabilise the Arvind Kejriwal-led government by using the alleged attack as a pretext.
The party also named a few officials of the Delhi government, who were allegedly involved in an attack on Mr. Hussain and Mr. Khetan, from the video.
“The Delhi Police arrested our MLAs only on the complaint of the Chief Secretary, who did not even have any evidence. On the other hand, we have a video footage of the attack on Imran Hussain and Ashish Khetan, yet there has been no action so far. The L-G is acting as an agent of the BJP and his loyalty is not towards the Constitution,” Mr. Ashutosh said.
Mr. Ashutosh said Mr. Prakash’s MLC report states that the attack on him took place after midnight, while in the CCTV footage of the CM’s residence he is clearly seen walking out at 11.30 p.m.
‘Made up’ bruises
Senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh also questioned the possibility of these bruises on Mr. Prakash’s face and body being “made up”.
“Why does the L-G, the Delhi Police, the Centre have double standards? The law is equal to every citizen. So, why no action has been taken against the Chief Secretary for using casteist remarks against our Dalit MLAs?” Mr. Singh asked.
