Swati Maliwal assault case: Delhi Police collect exhibits from Kejriwal’s house

The Delhi Police visited chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Sunday and collected exhibits from the spot where Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal was allegedly assaulted by the CM’s aide Bibhav Kumar, officers aware of the development said.

Maliwal in her complaint to police has alleged that Kumar “slapped” her “at least seven to eight times” without any provocation and “brutally dragged” her while “kicking” her, forcing her to fall and hit her head on a table at the CM’s residence on May 13. Kumar filed a counter, accusing Maliwal of forcefully entering the CM’s premises and using abusive language.

An officer part of the investigation said that the exhibits included a digital video recorder (DVR) and relevant CCTV footage from the area. “DVR from some parts of the premises was taken earlier as well,” the officer said. As a part of the probe, the CCTV footage obtained by Delhi Police over the last few days will now be checked with respect to allegations levelled by Maliwal, and Kumar’s side of the events.

Kumar was arrested from the chief minister’s residence on Saturday evening and was produced before a Delhi court late in the evening, following which he was sent to seven-day police custody. In the remand application submitted to the court, police said a junior engineer working at the CM’s house provided them with a video from the dining room in a pen drive, but when it was checked, the footage from the relevant period was “blank”.

Police said they will probe whether footage from the day of the incident was tampered with.

The Aam Aadmi Party, meanwhile, accused the police of “planting false news” at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party. ”The BJP and Delhi Police have been planting false news in the media ever since this alleged incident took place. Delhi Police is only spreading such false news at the behest of the BJP… The CCTV footage of the chief minister’s residence has been taken away by Delhi Police along with the DVR machine. Now they’re saying that the footage has disappeared,” AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said.

Police also said that Kumar’s employment was terminated on April 19, but he continued to work at the CM’s residence. On Saturday, investigators said, when they reached the CM’s residence, Kumar was present.

Officers also said that Kumar formatted his mobile phone — an iPhone — in Mumbai and he is also not cooperating. “His mobile is password protected and he is very evasive in his answers. This mobile along with Kumar will be taken to an expert in an attempt to retrieve the data,” the officer said. “During this period (his police remand), Kumar may be taken to Mumbai as he formatted his phone there,” a second officer said.

The first officer said that Kumar has a criminal record, booked in 2007 by the Noida Sector 20 police station. “The case was registered under section 353 of the IPC, which pertains to assault on a public servant,” the officer said.