Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal being spied upon by police, alleges AAP

PTI, May 4, 2023, 6:35 PM IST

The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday alleged Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was being spied on by the Delhi Police with its Special Cell officials in plainclothes ”roaming around” his residence the whole day.

AAP chief spokesperson and Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj told a press conference here the party’s Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha and Sanjay Singh have written to Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora in connection with the matter. The Delhi Police refused to comment on the matter. Addressing the media, Bharadwaj said, ”In the last two days, our MPs have written letters on a very serious issue.” He then read out from the similar letters written by the MPs.

”I would like to draw your attention to a serious issue. Delhi’s people have made Kejriwal CM thrice. There have been security lapses and he has been attacked. Police are supposed to protect the citizens. But it’s sad that they are not able to keep even the chief minister safe. Few days back, a drone was spotted near his residence but no one was arrested in connection with the incident,” he said.

The MPs, he said, have further pointed out that some officers of Delhi Police’s Special Cell have been roaming around Kejriwal’s residence for the whole day. Bhardwaj added, ”When asked, they said they are on a special task. What special task is this? Is the Delhi chief minister being spied upon? Under which law is the Delhi Police spying on its own CM? They are keeping an eye on people coming to the CM’s residence.” The MPs also flagged the deteriorating law and order situation in the national capital.

”Why is Delhi Police not protecting the CM but spying on him? Is it not illegal? What is the purpose of this? The matter is very serious. We are not objecting to what they are doing. We have objections on what the Centre is asking them to do,” he said. He said the BJP wants to finish the AAP. ”Our differences with the PM are known to the world. The PM wants to end the chief minister politically. They want to end AAP and these events raise serious questions. They have to answer these questions — What is the special task given to the plainclothes policemen?” When Bharadwaj was asked whether the presence of policemen was indicative of enhanced security around the CM’s residence following the drone incident, he said the person whose security was being beefed up would have been at least informed.

”A senior officer will brief the CM and will ask, ‘What do you want?’ The PM requires more security than the CM. So, is the police also spying outside the PM residence? If the same is being there, we can accept it. No policeman can roam in the area around PM’s residence,” he said.