Swati Maliwal assault case: A week after AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal was allegedly assaulted at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence by his personal assistant Bibhav Kumar, the Delhi Police has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter, police officials said.
Maliwal has claimed that Kumar assaulted her at the Chief Minister's official residence on May 13, when she went there to meet Kejriwal.
The SIT is led by Anjitha Chepyala, the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) for North Delhi. She has been handling the investigation. The SIT also includes three Inspector-rank officers, among them the officer from the Civil Lines Police Station, where the case was filed. The SIT will be submitting its report to senior officials after conducting its investigation, police said.
SIT record statements
The SIT recorded statements of the staff of the Chief Minister. They also documented statements from the CM's security personnel. Additionally, they questioned the security personnel visible in the mobile video.
Police seized various electronic devices from Bibhav's residence. Furthermore, the Digital Video Recorder (DVR) obtained from the CM House has been sent for investigation to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).
Delhi Police takes Bibhav Kumar to CM Kejriwal's residence
Earlier on Monday, the Delhi Police took Bibhav Kumar to the drawing room of Kejriwal's residence where he had allegedly assaulted Maliwal, to find out details about the sequence of events that took place on the morning of May 13.
The police noted down the answers to all their questions sequence-wise, mapped them and took photographs of the crime scene where the hour-long crime took place, officials said.
According to sources within the Delhi Police, as both the accused and the victim were taken to the crime scene to recreate the events, the narratives provided by both parties are currently under analysis. Officials from Delhi Police said that they also paid a visit to Bibhav Kumar's residence.
Delhi Police seizes CCTV DVR from Kejriwal's residence
The police seized the DVR of Kejriwal's CCTV footage on Sunday and are trying to retrieve the blank portion of the footage. They are also trying to find out whether the CCTV footage has been tampered with, as accused by Swati Maliwal. Along with this, some documents were also taken away by the Delhi Police from the Chief Minister's residence.
Maliwal claimed that the CCTV footage of the May 13 incident where she was allegedly assaulted has 'disappeared' and edited videos were being released. Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar was picked up at the CM's residence and arrested in connection with the assault case on Saturday.
Bibhav Kumar sent to 5-day police custody
A Delhi Court has sent Bibhav Kumar, to five-day police custody in connection with the alleged assault case of Maliwal. The Delhi Police had sought a 7-day custody of Kejriwal's aide. The court after hearing the arguments of Delhi Police and Bibhav's lawyer had reserved the order and delivered the judgement late Saturday night.
Police arrested Bibhav Kumar on Saturday (May 18) and his anticipatory bail plea was subsequently observed as becoming "infructuous" by a Delhi court. Kumar was later produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Goyal who sent him to five-day police custody.
Police, through their counsel, had sought seven-day custody of Kumar to question him in connection with the assault case. It is alleged that Kumar, the personal assistant of Kejriwal, assaulted Maliwal at the CM's residence on May 13 morning.
Swati Maliwal assault case
Maliwal has alleged that Kumar slapped her seven to eight times, 'kicked on the chest, stomach, and pelvis area,' and threatened to kill her. She stated that the incident occurred on May 13 when she went to meet Kejriwal at his official residence. Meanwhile, the AAP has denied the allegations, claiming that Maliwal is being “blackmailed” by the BJP to become part of their conspiracy.
Kumar was arrested by the Delhi Police after being booked under Sections 354 (assault or use of criminal force on woman with intent to disrobe), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt)of the Indian Penal Code.
