New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday that Delhi government officers were not attending meetings for past three days due to an alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash by two AAP MLAs.
He added that Lt Governor Anil Baijal has promised to talk to officers and resolve issues. Kejriwal made the statement after he met the Lt Governor along with his council of ministers.
“Officers not attending meetings for last 3 days. Governance suffering. I`m very concerned. LG assured he will take all steps to ensure officers started functioning normally. Council of ministers assured him all cooperation. All of us need to work together for the betterment of Delhi,” he said in a tweet.
Officers not attending meetings for last 3 days. Governance suffering. I m v concerned. LG assured he will take all steps to ensure officers started functioning normally. Council of ministers assured him all cooperation. All of us need to work together for betterment of Delhi
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 23, 2018
Meanwhile, Baijal said that there was “no place for violence in democracy”.
“Strongly condemn the recent unfortunate incidents. Advised elected government to take steps to remove mistrust with govt. employees so that development of Delhi is not affected,” he tweeted.
Met Hon’ble CM @ArvindKejriwal & his cabinet colleagues. Strongly condemn the recent unfortunate incidents. Advised elected Govt. to take steps to remove mistrust with Govt. employees so that development of Delhi is not affected. No place for violence in democracy.
— LG Delhi (@LtGovDelhi) February 23, 2018
On Tuesday, the Chief Secretary had alleged that he was beaten up by two AAP MLAs Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal, in the presence of Kejriwal, on Monday night at the Chief Minister`s residence where he had been called for an emergency meeting.
Following this, bureaucrats had declared that they would not meet or talk over the phone to the Chief Minister, his ministers or MLAs till Kejriwal apologises for the alleged assault.
For the past two days, Delhi government employees across the city have also been observing a five-minute silence outside their respective offices every day as a mark of protest.
Meanwhile, a Delhi Police team on Thursday descended on Kejriwal’s residence and seized a hard disk of the CCTV camera system installed there in connection with an alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash by AAP MLAs.
Police claimed that its action came after its request for CCTV footage from the CM’s residence was not met.
Several policemen on Thursday went to Kejriwal’s official residence in the Civil Lines area where Prakash was allegedly assaulted in the presence of the CM on the intervening night of February 19-20.
A total of 21 CCTV cameras and a hard disk were examined by the police. The hard disk has been seized and any possibility of “tampering” with the system could be ascertained only through forensic examination, said Additional DCP (North) Harendra Singh.
“We had asked for the CCTV camera footage and hard disk on February 20 itself but there was no response. So, we decided to come down and examine it,” he said.
Singh also said that the in-charge of maintenance at the CM’s residence had been intimated about the police visit, PTI reported.
Fourteen CCTV cameras were running while seven were not working. Also, there was a time lag of 40.43 minutes with respect to the time of the alleged incident, said the police official.
On the other hand, a Delhi court on Thursday dismissed the bail pleas of two AAP MLAs, Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal, arrested for allegedly assaulting Prakash.
Metropolitan Magistrate Shefali Barnala Tondon, however, refused to grant the police their custody saying there was no new ground for custodial interrogation.
The court had on Thursday sent the MLAs to 14-day judicial custody.
The two MLAs were arrested in connection with the alleged assault on Delhi’s top bureaucrat during a meeting at Kejriwal’s residence. While Jarwal, an MLA from Deoli, was arrested on Tuesday night, Khan was taken into custody on Wednesday afternoon.
The chief secretary has alleged in his complaint that he was sitting on a sofa flanked by Khan and another AAP MLA during the meeting.
“Khan and the other MLA, without provocation from my side started hitting and assaulting me with blows on my head and temple,” he has alleged in his complaint.
(With IANS and PTI inputs)
Source: Zee News