Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal denounced the arrest of his aide Bibhav Kumar regarding the alleged assault accusations made by his party’s Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal. Kejriwal, in a video statement on Saturday, accused the central government of singling out his party and declared a protest at the BJP headquarters on May 19. Notably, Kejriwal did not reference Swati Maliwal in his video address.
“You can see how they are after AAP. They first put Manish Sisodia in jail, then they went behind me, and now my PA,” the Delhi CM said.
“I would like to tell the Prime Minister – you are playing this ‘jail ka khel’…Tomorrow, I am coming to the BJP HQ with all my top leaders, MLAs, MPs at 12 noon. You can put in jail whoever you want,” the Delhi CM said.
#WATCH | Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal says, “You can see how they are after AAP…I would like to tell the Prime Minister – you are playing this ‘jail ka khel’…Tomorrow, I am coming to the BJP HQ with all my top leaders, MLAs, MPs at 12 noon. You can put in jail whoever you… pic.twitter.com/7Hpau6REeu
— ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2024
Bibhav Kumar, an aide to CM Kejriwal, was arrested on Saturday in relation to the purported assault on AAP MP Swati Maliwal. AAP countered by alleging that Maliwal was “blackmailed” by the BJP, citing her ongoing corruption case.
Kumar was arrested from the chief minister’s residence by a Delhi Police team. This action followed a day after Maliwal provided her statement before a magistrate at the Tis Hazari court.
Maliwal had accused Kumar of forcefully assaulting her, alleging that he slapped her in the face and kicked her in the chest and abdomen on May 13 when she visited the CM’s residence to meet Arvind Kejriwal.
The Police have taken statements from at least 10 individuals, including security personnel and other staff present at the CM’s residence during the alleged assault on May 13.
Earlier today, Bibhav expressed willingness to cooperate with the police investigation but requested them to also take into account his complaint against AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP.
On Friday, Kumar lodged a police complaint, accusing Maliwal of breaching the security of the CM’s residence to gain unauthorized entry on May 13 and causing disturbance.
The CM’s aide further claimed that when he attempted to intervene, Maliwal verbally abused him.
Senior AAP leader Atishi held a press conference, stating that if the Delhi Police acts impartially, it should also register an FIR based on Kumar’s complaint.
Maliwal underwent a medical examination at AIIMS on Friday. As per the medico-legal certificate (MLC), she has “bruises over proximal left leg dorsal aspect of approx size 3×2 cm and right cheek elbow below right eye of approx size 2×2 cm”.
Maliwal criticized her party for rejecting her assault allegations against Bibhav Kumar as “baseless,” asserting that the AAP has succumbed to “goon’s pressure” and is now questioning her character.
Maliwal stated that the AAP has made a “U-turn” just two days after acknowledging that Kumar had “misbehaved” with her.