NEW DELHI: In an unprecedented incident that halted the Delhi Government machinery on Tuesday, chief secretary Anshu Prakash was allegedly manhandled by two MLAs of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Monday night.
The officers retaliated on Tuesday by allegedly beating up city minister Imran Hussain and AAP leader Asish Khetan at the Delhi Secretariat. A group of IAS officers later met Union home minister Rajnath Singh and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and demanded that an FIR be registered and the culprits be arrested. They threatened to go on strike if their demands were not met.
After the meeting, the home ministry sought a report from the LG over the incident. The home minister said he was deeply pained by the happenings. He tweeted, “The civil servants should be allowed to work with dignity and without fear.”
On the other hand, AAP MLA Prakash Jarwal sent a complaint to the LG’s office and the Delhi Police Commissioner, seeking action against the CS for his conduct at Mr Kejriwal’s meeting.
He alleged that the CS used derogatory language against him and MLA Ajay Dutt when they asked him about the problems in ration delivery.
The Delhi Police lodged an FIR on a complaint from Mr Prakash under various sections, including 120B (criminal conspiracy), 186 (obstructing a public servant from performing the duty) and 353 (assault on public servant) against AAP’s Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan and others. In his complaint to Delhi Police, Mr Prakash called the “attack on him at Kejriwal’s residence premeditated.”
He further alleged that the MLAs also threatened to lock him up in a room all night if he does not release the TV campaign planned for the occasion.
The ruling AAP however denied the “ludicrous” allegations and accused Mr Prakash of acting at “BJP’s behest”. Some AAP MLAs claimed Prakash had made casteist remarks. The party claimed he had used bad language against some lawmakers and left the Chief Minister’s residence
The incident has snowballed into a major slugfest, with AAP minister Imran Hussain also alleging that he was attacked at the Delhi secretariat by officials who were protesting the alleged assault.
Provoked by an attack on Delhi’s chief secretary bureaucrats on Tuesday said they would boycott all meetings called by Arvind Kejriwal and his Cabinet colleagues till the chief minister apologised for the incident.
