Cops quiz Kejriwal for over 3 hours in CS assault case

New Delhi:  A six-member team of the Delhi police on Friday questioned chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for over three hours in connection with the alleged assault on chief secretary Anshu Prakash in February.

Emerging from the questioning by a six-member police team, Mr Kejriwal said it is the first time a chief minister was questioned in “such a fake case”.

He also termed the presence of the team a “raid” on his camp office-cum-residence at Civil Lines here. “It is the first time that questioning of a chief minister was done in such a fake case and a police raid was conducted,” he said in a tweet minutes after the Delhi police team left his office.

He also alleged that the only aim of the Centre and the Delhi lieutenant-governor (L-G) was to “trouble and bother us”.

Mr Kejriwal, however, said the questioning took place in a “very congenial atmosphere”.

The team led by additional deputy commissioner of police (North) Harendra Singh began questioning the chief minister at his camp office at 5.10 pm and finished around 8.20 pm.

While some members of the team arrived at the chief minister’s office around 4.40 pm to set up the recording equipment, Mr Singh arrived at 5 pm.

During the questioning that took place in the drawing room, two lawyers of the AAP supremo were also present.

“We questioned him for three hours. The chief minister was cooperative but also evaded many of the questions. The questioning lasted for three hours. As per the procedure, Mr Kejriwal’s two lawyers were also present at the time. The questioning will also be part of our special report. The copy of the video recording will not be provided to the CM as it is against the section 161 of CRPC. If need be, the CM will be questioned again, for which he has agreed,” Mr Singh said after the questioning.

“Mr Kejriwal has provided some vital information in the matter, which will help them connect the dots. If required, we will again question him in the case,” he added.

The officer said that they may also question deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, if required.

According to the sources, the CM was asked around 150 questions. The big question for the police remains why was there a time lag in the footage and where was the chief minister and his deputy Manish Sisodia when the assault took place on the chief secretary. The proceedings of the questioning were video-recorded by the police, but a copy of the recording will not be provided to Mr Kejriwal because the law does not allow it, Mr Singh said.

Police sources said some questions put to Kejriwal included the decision to convene the late night meeting with Prakash, the sequence of events that led to the assault and the trigger for the incident.

During investigation, the police had found that the assault was pre-planned and Mr Kejriwal’s private secretary Bibhav Kumar had directed a party volunteer to call the MLAs.

The chief minister was also questioned about whether he had any idea about it. AAP leader Ashish Khetan slammed the police for questioning Kejriwal for such a long duration.

“A 5 member Delhi Police team has been questioning @ArvindKejriwal for the last 3 hours. What is his crime? Has he done a scam? Did he steal public money? Did he order fake encounters? Did he orchestrate riots? Did he give bank loans to his cronies? (sic)” he posted on Twitter.