Arvind Kejriwal visits the houses of his attackers, 'forgives' them

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the polling for Lok Sabha elections here tomorrow, Arvind Kejriwal today visited the residences of two men who had attacked him in the last five days in two separate roadshows in the national capital and said he has "forgiven" the attackers. The AAP leader also called on Delhi Police Chief B S Bassi and asked him to "track down the mastermind" behind the attacks against him.

In the morning, Kejriwal visited 38-year-old autorickshaw driver Lali who had slapped him at a roadshow in Sultanpuri area of the North West Delhi yesterday. Lali had first garlanded Kejriwal and then slapped him hard, leaving him with a swollen eye. The police registered an FIR against Lali today.

"I forgave him," Kejriwal said after meeting Lali at his residence in Aman Vihar area of Outer Delhi. Touched by Kejriwal's gesture, the autorickshaw driver described the former Delhi Chief Minister as "God" and said he made a "mistake" by attacking the former Delhi Chief Minister. "I have committed a mistake. He is God for me. I did it because he left the government after some days. Government is not just for the Lok Pal bill. There are other important issues also," said Lali.

In the afternoon, Kejriwal visited Abdul Basit at his residence in Jamia Nagar. Basit had punched him last week at a roadshow in Dakshinpuri. "I had hit him to vent my anger. He met me today and I apologised for the act. He has also forgiven me," Basit, 19, said. He did not elaborate why he had punched Kejriwal. The AAP leader had abruptly ended his roadshow after the attack on April 4.