New Delhi [India], August 18 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi following allegations made by his party that police "picked up" MLA Kuldeep Kumar from his residence.
The incident comes amid a protest over the alleged murder of a Municipal Corporation of Delhi sanitation worker, Anil Kumar, in Kalyanpuri, with AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj alleging that Delhi Police picked up Kuldeep Kumar from his residence at around 4 am after he raised the issue of compensation for the deceased worker's family.
Anil was carrying out his sanitation duties when he was allegedly attacked with a knife.
Police have since said the accused, identified as Nihal, has been arrested and, according to preliminary information, the incident was committed due to a "personal enmity".
"Prime Minister Modi Ji, Where is our MLA Kuldeep Kumar? At 4 AM this morning, your Delhi Police picked up Kuldeep Kumar from his home, broke the CCTV cameras, and took the DVR along with them. Your police is not telling us anything. If the police can pick up an MLA from his home like this without any information or any reason, then where can the common man in this country go for help? This country will not tolerate such thuggery from you," said Kejriwal.
Anil was carrying out his sanitation duties when he was allegedly attacked with a knife. Police have since said the accused, identified as Nihal, has been arrested and, according to preliminary information, "the accused committed the crime due to a personal enmity".
In a post on X, Bharadwaj alleged that around 20 people from Delhi in plain clothes arrived at around 4 am and took Kuldeep Kumar to an undisclosed location.
In another post, Bharadwaj said Delhi AAP Vice President and MLA Sanjeev Jha was reaching the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), East, to ascertain Kuldeep Kumar's whereabouts.
AAP alleged that police were also forcibly carrying out the last rites of the deceased sanitation worker.
According to the allegations, sanitation workers had been sitting in protest for two days following the murder and were demanding Rs 1 crore compensation for the victim's family.
The party further alleged that the police brought the deceased's body from the hospital to the family home and threatened to conduct the cremation immediately.
In a Facebook post, Kuldeep Kumar's team said supporters should continue the protest until "Anil gets justice" and urged people to reach Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital.
AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha, who said he had been waiting outside the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, East, for over two and a half hours without getting any response, posted on X about the situation.
"This morning at 4 AM, people in plain clothes came and took Kuldeep Kumar away. The cameras at his house were smashed, and the DVR was also taken. It's afternoon now, but there's still no information on where Kuldeep ji is. I've been standing outside the DCP Eastern Range office for the last two and a half hours. I've been trying to meet and talk to the DCP, but I'm not getting any response. My direct question to the Delhi Police Commissioner is--has raising one's voice for justice for Dalits now become a crime? Will a current MLA who speaks out against murder be intimidated into silence? This arrogance is not right. Voices cannot be suppressed by the might of police uniforms and batons," he said.