Somnath Bharti booked for inciting crowd to damage property

In fresh trouble, AAP MLA Somnath Bharti has been booked for allegedly inciting a crowd to damage AIIMS’ fence and misbehaving with the hospital’s security personnel but the former Delhi minister has denied the charges.

The chief security officer of AIIMS gave a written complaint on September 9, stating that Mr Bharti provoked the mob to damage the fence of the hospital with a JCB at Gautam Nagar Nallah road in order to give access to unauthorised persons inside AIIMS property and also misbehaved with security personnel at around 9.45 am, said a senior police officer.

In the complaint, it was also alleged that six security personnel were injured while trying to intervene and stop Mr Bharti and his supporters from damaging AIIMS property. The medical examination of the six security personnel was done and a case under Sections 147(Punishment for rioting) 148 (Rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 186, 353 and 3/4 PDPP act has been registered at Hauz Khas police station, added the officer.

After the FIR was filled at Hauz Khas police station, Mr Bharti, 42, took to Twitter for countering the allegations. He tweeted that AIIMS has been denying legitimate access to Gautam Nagar residents and charges that people dismantled a wall that was restricting their access was a blatant lie.

Raging on Twitter, Mr Bharti said, “The wall will have to go in larger interest of residents, come what may.” He termed the allegations “wrong.”

“It’s wrong on the part of channels to show it as a scuffle issue between AIIMS guards and residents. The contentious wall was between the two sides,” he said in a series of tweets.