Kejriwal First Reaction In Maliwal Assault Case: Calls For Fair Probe And Justice

In his first reaction on AAP MP Swati Maliwal's alleged assault at his official residence, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said he expects a fair investigation into the matter and justice should be served.

Maliwal has alleged she was "assaulted" by Kejriwal's personal assistant Bibhav Kumar when she went to meet the chief minister on May 13.

Photo Credit: PTI

The police have registered a case and arrested Kumar in connection with it. In an interview with PTI, the chief minister said the matter is currently "sub-judice" and his comment might affect the proceedings. "But I expect there will be a fair investigation. Justice should be served. There are two versions of the event. Police should investigate both versions fairly and justice should be done," Kejriwal said.

His aide Kumar is currently in five-day police custody in connection with the case. Reacting to his comment, Maliwal said irony died a thousand deaths, adding that Kejriwal has finally said that he wants a free and fair investigation in the matter.

"After unleashing the entire army of leaders and volunteers at me, calling me a BJP agent, assassinating my character, leaking edited videos, victim shaming me, roaming around with the accused, letting him re-enter the crime scene and tamper evidence and protesting in favour of the accused, the Chief Minister, in whose drawing-room I was beaten up, has finally said that he wants free and fair investigation in the matter. Irony died a thousand deaths. I don't buy this one bit," she said in a post on X.

Earlier Wednesday, Maliwal alleged that there is a "lot of pressure" on everyone in the party to malign her. "Yesterday I got a call from a big leader of the party. They told me how there is a lot of pressure on everyone, they have to say bad things about Swati, and they have to break her by leaking her personal photos. It is being said that anyone who supports her will be expelled from the party," the Rajya Sabha member said in a post on X.

"Someone has got the duty of doing press conferences and someone has got the duty of tweeting. It is someone's duty to call the volunteers sitting in America and get something out against me," she added. On Tuesday, Kumar was taken to Mumbai for the discovery of data from his phone which he had allegedly formatted before his arrest.

Police suspect Kumar formatted his phone after transferring its data to some person or device in Mumbai. Kumar's phones and laptop as well as CCTV recordings from Kejriwal's house have been sent for forensic examination, an officer said. As Kumar's police custody is ending on Thursday, investigators are trying to collect all evidence related to the case, he said.