In a move that raised many eyebrows and evoked a sharp response from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Delhi Police on Friday visited the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence at Civil Lines and seized hard disks containing recordings of 21 CCTV cameras in connection with the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash by AAP MLAs on Monday night.

The Delhi Police team, including cyber crime and forensics experts, had reached the CM’s residence in the morning to collect evidence related to the alleged incident.

Reacting to police search, Kejriwal said, “A huge posse of policemen was sent to my residence. The entire CM’s residence is being searched over allegations of two slaps.” “But when will Amit Shah be questioned in connection with Judge Loya’s death,” he tweeted.

Condemning the search, Delhi Government spokesperson Arunodya Prakash tweeted, “CM house taken over by police. Huge number of police force enters CM house without any intimation. Police Raj kills democracy in Delhi. Police spread all over inside CM house. If this what they can to do to an elected CM, think what they can do with poor people!!!”

“There is minimum courtesy in democracy. Every citizen has rights under constitution. Is it an attempt to humiliate a CM who is working tirelessly for the poor and the last man of the society?” he further tweeted.

In a significant development, Union Minister of State (Home) Hansraj Gangaram Ahir hinted Kejriwal may be questioned by police in connection with the alleged assault.

“Whosoever it may be, the police will question all those in whose presence the incident took place,” Ahir told reporters hours after a Delhi Police team searched the Chief Minister’s residence.

The Minister was responding to a question on the possibility of Delhi Police questioning Kejriwal for the alleged assault on Prakash.

After the search, senior police officers of the North district said out of the 21 CCTV cameras at Kejriwal’s residence, 14 were functioning while seven were not working. There was a time lag of 40.43 minutes with respect to the time of the alleged incident, said police, adding, people responsible for maintenance of the CCTV cameras were also questioned.

Police also said a hard disk was examined and seized. However, there was no CCTV camera installed in the room where the alleged incident happened. No footage of alleged assault was obtained, they added.

For close to two-and-a-half hours, more than 22 police personnel led by Additional DCP, North Delhi, Harinder Singh were inside the premises of Kejriwal’s residence

The Additional DCP said, “The police team was sent to the Chief Minister’s residence for collecting all evidence, including CCTV footage, in connection with the alleged assault on the Delhi Chief Secretary.”

“Our teams have collected the DVR. Any possibility of “tampering” with the system can be ascertained only through forensic examination,” Singh added.

Defending the search at the Chief Minister’s residence, Singh said “We had asked for the CCTV camera footage and hard disk on February 20 itself but there was no response. So, we decided to come down and examine it.” The in-charge of maintenance at the Chief Minister’s residence had been intimated about the police visit, he added.

“We believe the incident occurred between midnight of February 19 and 12.15 am of February 20. Going by the coverage by CCTV cameras outside the drawing room and in the corridor, we will try to understand the movement of people before and after the incident,” the Additional DCP said.

Singh did not deny the possibility of questioning Kejriwal and the MLAs, who were present during the meeting where Prakash was allegedly assaulted.

“It is difficult to say so now. We will work scientifically,” Singh said. The police also questioned the maintenance staff of the electronic surveillance system installed at the Chief Minister’s residence.