Arvind Kejriwal’s PA asked me to get off stage before ink incident: Cop

NEW DELHI: On a day when the Aam Aadmi Party said the ink thrown on chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday part of a deep-rooted conspiracy and that the CM wasn't being adequately protected, one of the cops from Kejriwal's security detail told his seniors that he was asked to step down from the dais when Kejriwal was addressing the gathering in Chhatrasal stadium on Sunday.

Not just that, several cops from the CM's security have complained to seniors and even sent entries through wireless sets saying that the CM had, on a number of occasions, stopped them from accompanying him.

These logs say Kejriwal left home and office to undisclosed places after reprimanding his security detail to stay away.

These details, highly placed sources, say have been brought into the notice of home minister Rajnath Singh with whom police commissioner B S Bassi held a meeting on Monday morning to explain the ink-throwing incident.

The developments have given a fresh twist to Sunday's incident and police are now interrogating the woman, Bhavna Arora, to see if there was a deeper plot. Arora, who is on a day's police remand, is being questioned by a special team of police officers who seek to ascertain if Arora committed the act at someone's behest.

Sources said her call records are being analyzed to ascertain the identity of people she was in touch with of late, a senior cop said.

Elaborating on the cop's complaint, a source said the cop had been asked to guard the CM's immediate periphery on the stage and had been asked to remain at guard in close proximity of the public address system to be used by Kejriwal.

However, the cop said "Kejriwal's personal assistant (PA)" allegedly asked him to get off the dais and instructed the people there to not allow anyone "in uniform" on the stage. After this, the cop joined a dozen other cops standing at guard below the stage.

After meeting the home minister, Bassi termed the allegations of poor security levelled by deputy CM Manish Sisodia as misconceived and unfounded.

Speaking to reporters, Bassi said the allegations against the police were baseless as adequate security arrangements had been made at the north Delhi venue where the incident occurred.

Arora, alleging a "CNG scam" in the AAP government, threw ink at Kejriwal on Sunday at a public gathering held to mark the "success" of the odd-even traffic restriction scheme. She missed the target but a few drops of ink could be seen on the CM's face. Arora was arrested for obstructing and assaulting a public servant, and intentional insult with the intent to provoke breach of peace.

Just after the incident, Sisodia alleged it was a "conspiracy" to attack Kejriwal and his ministers and blamed the police for inadequate security arrangements. "There was no security provided by Delhi Police. It is a conspiracy by the BJP and Delhi Police are also involved in it," Sisodia said after the incident.