In a major security lapse, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was attacked inside the secretariat in the National capital on Tuesday. The incident took place in the afternoon outside Kejriwal’s chamber in Delhi Secretariat. The attacker has been identified as Anil Kumar Sharma and is in the police custody. Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has lashed out the Delhi police claiming it is a “serious security lapse” by them. The police suggested that the incident might be “unintentional” and said they are investigating if the chilli powder “fell unintentionally”.
According to the NDTV, at around 2:30 PM, when Kejriwal was leaving his office, Sharma a middle-aged man approached the CM claiming he has some grievances. As soon as the AAP minister came near him, Sharma said, “Aap hi se umeed hai (You are my only hope),” and bowed before him. While getting up Sharma threw Chill power at Kejriwal’s face, as reported by the Hindustan Times.
#JustIn: CCTV footage of attack..#ArvindKejriwal. @DelhiPolice questioning the accused.@IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/uZKsOznzmT
— Mahender Singh (@mahendermanral) November 20, 2018
Sharma a resident of Delhi’s Narayana area, was carrying a letter in one hand and chilli powder in the other. The man had kept the chilli powder in a gutka (chewing tobacco) packet. Soon after the attack, the police detained the man, and he is now in custody.
Dangerous attack on Delhi CM @ArvindKejriwal.
Serious security lapses from Delhi Police. Even the Chief Minister is not safe in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/h60VUVOGhi— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) November 20, 2018
AAP criticised the police
Calling the act as a “dangerous attack” AAP party member said that it was a “serious security lapse” from the Delhi Police. The party also alleged that the BJP has sent out this message that who so ever would attack the Chief Minister or his party would be protected. In a tweet, party spokesperson Raghav Chadha said, “It is an unacceptable security lapse.”
While today just the CM’s glasses fell to the floor and broke, an unacceptable security lapse nonetheless.
Imagine if attacker were to be wielding a more dangerous weapon. Who were to have prevented a tragedy from occurring?— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) November 20, 2018
Soon after the attack, the party’s national spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj and Raghav Chadha addressed a press conference. “How can any random person walk into the Secretariat and attack the Chief Minister. Arvind Kejriwal has faced many such attacks on a regular basis. This is a serious security lapse. I believe that the attacker has ties with BJP. The attack is directly connected to the BJP which is giving full protection to the criminals,” said Bharadwaj in the conference. He also said that “It is very clear that the BJP is not able to digest Aam Aadmi Party and they are trying to intimidate us with such tactics.”
CM attacked in the past
This is not the first time when the AAP Chief Minister is being attacked in broad daylight. In the past, Kejriwal has been attacked similarly. In 2016, a woman had attacked the CM by throwing ink on him at the Chhatrasal Stadium in north Delhi, while CM was delivering a speech on the success of the first odd-even traffic policy. Earlier also, Delhi CM has been attacked.
Meanwhile, the BJP has condemned the incident. BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said, “I strongly condemn it. This should not be tolerated or justified. The matter should be investigated.”
