Delhi Ministers on Wednesday revealed that the attacker of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had been seemingly monitoring her official residence for almost 24 hours, taking videos of the place and lying overnight in the vicinity, indicating that the attack was premeditated.
The attacker, 41-year-old Rajesh from Rajkot, Gujarat, was caught by Delhi Police shortly after the attack.
The attack took place on Wednesday morning on the Chief Minister's official residence in Civil Lines during the Jan Sunvai programme, a routine function where she greets Delhi residents to hear their complaints.
Police sources have confirmed that Rajesh is being interrogated to determine the motive of the attack, and Gujarat Police have also been approached for investigation. Official word on the incident and more information about the accused is still pending.
As per PWD Minister Parvesh Verma and Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, the assailant pulled the Chief Minister's hair and pushed her on the ground before security personnel and onlookers intervened.
After many days, Delhi received a Chief Minister who conducts Jan Sunvai programmes on a regular basis in her residence, listening herself to 1,000–2,000 people's grievances every day without any limits. What took place today is extremely condemnable. We only met the CM; she has suffered injuries, and her MLC test is being conducted," Verma informed the media.
Police are investigating. It has also been revealed that the attacker had been on a recce of CM's house for the last 24 hours and even stayed somewhere in the vicinity overnight. He came to Jan Sunvai today without any relevant papers, and the moment he greeted the Chief Minister, he attacked her. He pulled her hair for some time, and people present tried to push him away from her," he added.
Verma also informed that Chief Minister had injuries in her hand, shoulder, and head. "Doctors are treating her at present. Whether there is a political conspiracy or not will be known only after the inquiry," he added.
Manjinder Singh Sirsa disclosed that the accused had also gone to Gupta's house in Shalimar Bagh before and had clicked videos there.
He was aware that Rekha Gupta interacts with thousands of people every day without any hindrance in the course of Jan Sunvai. He held her on the ground for a considerable amount of time, and it is apparent that he came with a single motive to hit at her. He did not even possess Jan Sunvai documents in hand. This certainly indicates that everything was pre-planned," Sirsa said to the journalists.
No one should believe they can assault a woman Chief Minister and escape. The Jan Sunvai programmes will keep going as usual. Our CM will keep working towards the development of Delhi. She interacts with many people and doesn't require much security many times, and this is what he was aware of when he perpetrated this attack," Sirsa further added.
For context, Chief Minister Gupta holds ‘Jan Sunvai’ every Wednesday at her Civil Lines residence. On Wednesday, she arrived at the event at 8 a.m., and the attack took place while she was hearing the grievances of the public.
According to sources, when she approached Rajesh, he began shouting and grabbed her hand.
The incident has brought serious question marks to the shortcomings in security protocols. Delhi Police will also hold an internal investigation to find out how the attack was possible in the face of tight security protocols.
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