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Aam Aadmi Party legislator Prakash Jarwal was detained on Tuesday night in connection with the alleged assault on the Delhi chief secretary at the chief minister’s residence, police said.
He was picked up from his house at Deoli and detained. There is a possibility he will be arrested later, sources said.
Earlier, Jarwal and Ajay Dutt, AAP MLAs from Deoli and Ambedkar Nagar respectively, had claimed the bureaucrat made casteist remarks. They have lodged a complaint against him with the Delhi Police and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes.
The Delhi Police has registered an FIR on a complaint by Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash who alleged that he was assaulted by a few Aam Aadmi Party MLAs during a meeting at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence.
The case was registered on Tuesday under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to wrongful restraint, criminal intimidation, causing hurt and obstructing a public servant from performing his duty, a senior police officer said.
Prakash was allegedly manhandled by a few AAP legislators at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Monday night.
Following the attack, Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash alleged that the attack was “premeditated” and a “conspiracy” of all those who were present at the meeting.
In his complaint to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) seeking action, Prakash alleged that Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and 11 AAP MLAs were present at the meeting at the CM’s residence where they threatened to “implicate” him in false cases if the issue of releasing TV advertisements about the AAP government’s achievements was not resolved.
He also claimed he was roughed up.
In his complaint, Prakash, a 1986-batch IAS officer of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory cadre, alleged that at the meeting, an attempt was made to “compel” him to follow “unlawful directions”.
The chief secretary claimed that around 8.45 pm on Monday, the advisor to the chief minister informed him that he had to reach the CM’s residence at midnight to discuss the issue of releasing some TV advertisements relating to the completion of three years of the AAP government.
“The advisor (to CM) had called me around 11.30 pm (last night) to confirm that I had left for the meeting. Thereafter, I left my residence in my official car... and reached CM’s residence at midnight... I was taken to the front room where Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and 11 MLAs were present,” he said.
The chief secretary, 56, alleged that as the meeting started, one of AAP MLAs slammed the door shut, and he was made to sit between MLA Amanatullah Khan and another MLA on a three-seater sofa.
“CM directed me to answer the MLAs and explain the reasons for the delay in the release of the TV campaign. I explained to them that officers were bound by guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court,” he said in the complaint.
He said, “The MLAs started shouting at me and abused me while blaming me and the bureaucracy for not doing enough publicity for the government”.
One of the MLAs, he alleged, threatened him, saying that he (Prakash) would be confined to the room for the entire night if he did not agree to releasing the TV campaign.
He said in his police complaint that he was also told he would be implicated in “false cases including under the SC/ST Act”.
“Khan and the other MLA on my left side whom I can identify, without any provocation from my side, started hitting and assaulting me and hit several blows with fists on my head and temple,” he said.
Prakash added that his spectacles fell to the ground.
“I was in a state of shock. With difficulty, I was able to leave the room and get into my official car and leave the CM’s residence,” he said.
The chief minister’s office dismissed the accusation as “bizarre and baseless”.
Since the party has come to power in Delhi, the bureaucracy and the AAP dispensation have clashed on a range of issues.
In December, 2015, when Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain suspended two special secretaries, IAS and DANICS (Delhi Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service) officers went on mass leave against the move.
Central IAS officers’ body demands arrest of perpetrators
The central IAS officers’ association termed as “criminal” the alleged assault on Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash and demanded immediate arrest of the perpetrators.
The association strongly condemns the assault on chief secretary, Delhi, it said.
“It’s a criminal, cowardly and deplorable act and an assault on the Constitution. We stand by our colleagues in Delhi and demand immediate arrest of the perpetrators of such a shameful act,” said the association of Indian Administrative Service officers working across the country.
It supported a resolution of the Delhi IAS association and demanded immediate action against the perpetrators involved in the incident.
A total of 5,004 IAS officers are working across the country.
The Union home ministry has sought a report from Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on the alleged assault.
“I am deeply pained by the happenings involving the chief secretary of the Delhi government. The civil servants should be allowed to work with dignity and without fear,” Home Minister Rajnath Singh said.
His comments came after meeting a delegation of IAS, DANICS and DASS officers. The delegation apprised Singh on the prevailing situation of bureaucracy in Delhi administration.