NEW DELHI: A man with a criminal history arrived at chief minister Rekha Gupta’s residence in Civil Lines in north Delhi and physically assaulted her during her weekly jan sunwai (public hearing) on Wednesday morning. The unarmed man approached the CM, hit her twice and attempted to drag her by her hair, all the while hurling expletives at her. The assailant was swiftly overpowered by security personnel. As Gupta fell down, the man appeared to pick up something from the floor and throw it at her but was prevented from doing so.Police said Rajesh Bhai Khimji Bhai Sakriya, a 41-year-old resident of Rajkot, Gujarat, had been booked on charges of attempted murder. Several agencies are jointly interrogating him to determine the motive for the brazen assault.
Sudden attack triggered chaos at meet
An inquiry has also been ordered into the glaring security lapses around CM. The accused provided conflicting statements to the cops during questioning. Police also haven’t been able to pin down Sakriya’s motive for assaulting Gupta and suspect a conspiracy, based on his confession that he had conducted a recce of CM’s residence in Shalimar Bagh and had sent a video to an associate. Police are investigating this.Sakriya initially said he had come to seek the release of a jailed relative but later claimed to be a dog lover disturbed by the Supreme Court’s directive against stray dogs, a claim echoed by his mother. He has also claimed that in May, he observed a three-day fast in Ayodhya to highlight the plight of monkeys.
He said if he was denied the chance to meet CM, he planned to sit on a hunger strike at Ramlila Maidan in the manner of Anna Hazare. He believed that seeing a dog sitting on a Shivling at a temple near his house recently was a divine sign to take up the cause of dogs.Delhi Police contacted their counterparts in Gujarat for confirmation of the information given by Sakriya, and a police team is being dispatched to that state. The accused, receiving medical attention till late on Wednesday, will be produced in court, where the cops are likely to seek 5-7 days of remand because he needs to be taken to Gujarat and other places.An FIR was registered at the Civil Lines police station under sections 109 (1) (attempted murder), 132 (assaulting or using criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging their duty) and 221 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.Participants at the jan sunwai narrated how the incident unfolded. Mukesh said that CM, as usual, was listening to people’s grievances. When it was Sakriya’s turn, he approached her with a piece of paper in his hand, and when within arm’s reach of her, he attacked her physically. The security personnel, including women cops, were caught off guard.Anjali added that the man was speaking in a normal manner before suddenly launching the attack, which she described as completely unprovoked. “He didn’t give any reason for his actions,” she claimed.Other witnesses said that as about 200 people milled around on the premises, Sakriya neared CM, and while she was reviewing the documents and listening to grievances, he suddenly became aggressive and physically attacked her. Shailender recalled seeing the man attacking CM and police personnel quickly intervening and escorting him away. Gupta was examined by a doctor at the residence and was later taken to hospital.
