Delhi chief secy says was beaten up by AAP MLAs in Kejriwal's presence

Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash alleged in a police complaint lodged on Tuesday that he was beaten up by some AAP legislators at the official residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and in his presence, around midnight on Monday.

Subsequently, an AAP  minister and another party leader alleged that they were manhandled inside the Delhi Secretariat by supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, officials and staff of the Delhi government said they raised slogans against the AAP leadership to protest the treatment meted out to Prakash.
 

BJP’s Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari accused AAP of “urban Naxalism”. Congress Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken demanded an apology from Kejriwal for the “hooliganism” and said the attack on Prakash was an attempt by the AAP to divert public attention from its failures to deliver its promises. AAP leaders accused the BJP of engineering the controversy to take the attention from the ~114 billion bank fraud involving jeweller Nirav Modi.

A delegation of officers from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), DANICS and subordinate services of the Delhi government, which included the Delhi chief secretary, met Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday. The bureaucrats, some of whom also held a candlelight protest in the evening, alleged that the attack on Prakash was “pre-planned and pre-meditated”.

“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,” the home minister tweeted. 

He said the ministry has sought a report on the incident from the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and "justice will be done".

In his complaint to the police, Prakash alleged that he was asked to reach Kejriwal’s residence at midnight on Monday to discuss release of some television advertisements related to three years of AAP government. He said Kejriwal, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and 11 AAP legislators were present, and he explained to them that he was bound by the Supreme Court guidelines on release of advertisements.

The Chief Secretary also alleged that he was threatened that he would be implicated under the Scheduled Caste and Schedule Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act. He alleged that some AAP legislators, including Amanatullah Khan, beat him up.

However, AAP claimed Prakash had been called for a discussion on rations. "The allegation of assault is totally bizarre and baseless," a senior official of the chief minister's office said.

Subsequently, the Delhi government took a decision to do away with Aadhaar as proof of identity to distribute rations. It said that 250,000 families were not getting their rations for the past one month because of Aadhaar discrepancies.

On Tuesday afternoon, Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain was mobbed by over a hundred officials and staff in Delhi Secretariat. Officials and staff of the Delhi government raised slogans and prevented Hussain from taking the elevator to his 6th floor office. Later, police had to escort the minister to his office, sources said.

The minister later filed a complaint. Hussain and AAP leader Ashish Khetan, who said he was also at the spot, alleged that the mob comprised BJP workers. Officials disputed Hussain’s version that he was manhandled.

AAP MLA Ajay Dutt, who was present at the midnight meeting, in an email to the commissioner of police alleged that the Chief Secretary "abused" and used "casteist" slurs against him and another legislator Prakash Jarwal.