‘Swati Maliwal barged in, abused Delhi CM staff’: Bibhav Kumar’s charges

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s aide, Bibhav Kumar, submitted an email complaint to the Delhi Police on Friday, countering allegations of grave assault.

And attack levelled by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal against him and alleging that she intended to harm chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

In the complaint, Kumar alleged that contrary to the claims made by the MP in the First Information Report, it was she who allegedly “forcefully and unauthorisedly entered the CM’s residence, abused and assaulted him and threatened to implicate him in false cases”. He also alleged that she threatened to file a false case against him and send him to jail.

According to the complaint, a copy of which HT has seen, Maliwal allegedly hurled abuses when Kumar prevented her from entering the main building of the CM’s residence.

Kumar also gave his version of the alleged sequence of events and said Maliwal forcefully entered the CM’s residence, created a ruckus, abused and assaulted him and was now trying to falsely implicate him.

“Not only did she breach the security of CM Residence, create a ruckus, and assault the complainant (Kumar); she is now trying to falsely implicate the undersigned complainant,” said Kumar in his complaint to the station house officer of Civil Lines police station.

“You are requested to take appropriate legal action against Ms. Maliwal. Since it is election time, all of this may have been done at the behest of the BJP and it is therefore requested that her call records, chats and interactions with BJP leaders should also be investigated.”

This is in line with what the AAP alleged on Friday. In a press conference, senior minister Atishi rejected allegations made by Maliwal and said that her complaint was part of a BJP conspiracy. Atishi also said that Kumar had filed a counter complaint with the police.

Kumar submitted his complaint a day after Maliwal lodged an FIR, where she alleged that she was assaulted by Kumar at Kejriwal’s residence on May 13.

A senior Delhi Police officer said that a complaint by Bibhav Kumar against Maliwal was received on Friday evening. “We will first examine the authenticity of the complaint and then the allegations made against the AAP MP. After that, necessary action will be taken as per the law,” he said, asking not to be named.

The deputy commissioner of police (north) and SHO Civil Lines did not respond to requests for comments.

Kumar, in the complaint, said that Maliwal’s “false statements and malafide actions” are creating an incorrect narrative regarding what transpired.

“Around 8:40am, Swati Maliwal came to the chief minister’s residence… and sought permission to enter. The security officer… inquired about her identity… she identified herself as a Rajya Sabha MP… told the security officers to allow her to enter as she had an appointment. The security officer requested her to wait till he got the details of her appointment verified. Upon verification, the officer informed her that there was no such appointment on record and therefore she could not enter. She then forcefully entered… despite the objections… she forcefully and illegally trespassed into the premises despite the repeated objections,” Kumar said.

Kumar added that Maliwal was then asked to wait in the drawing room by the staff, after her “forceful entry”

“The waiting room is… not in the main building where the CM resides. Upon being asked to wait outside the main building… she started shouting at and abusing the staff. She told them to leave the waiting area and check with the Chief Minister about her appointment,” Bibhav stated.

“At around 9:00am… she stormed out of the waiting area and entered the main building… [after which Kumar was informed of it]… The complainant approached Maliwal and politely requested her to follow the proper procedure… Maliwal started screaming and shouting at the complainant, and hurled abuses,” he alleged.

Kumar also said that he did not “react to the abuses” and politely asked Maliwal to leave. “…However, Maliwal continued to ignore the repeated requests and threatened… if he did not let her meet the CM,” Bibhav stated.

“The complainant respectfully and repeatedly requested Ms. Maliwal not to take the law into her hands and to refrain from threatening the complainant and other staff members. Ms. Maliwal ignored the aforementioned requests and started walking from the drawing room towards the inner part of the CM residence. The complainant apprehended that her motives were suspect and she intended to harm the Hon’ble CM. So the complainant strongly objected to her trying to gain forceful entry into the inner parts of the residence and stood in front of her to prevent the same. This infuriated Ms. Maliwal pushed the complainant. She then angrily sat on the sofa and dialled the PCR, and started making blatantly false allegations regarding the complainant,” the complaint said.

He said Maliwal finally left the premises at 9.35am.

Kumar said the allegations against him were made at the behest of the BJP, and requested police that her call records, chats and interactions with BJP leaders should be investigated.

“Ms. Maliwal threatened the security staff who asked her to follow the appointment and entry protocol, forcefully made an unauthorised and illegal entry into the premises of the CM Residence, and thereby breached the security of the CM Residence. When the complainant asked Ms. Maliwal to leave the CM Residence, not only he was abused and physically pushed by her, but she also threatened to implicate him in false cases. Since Ms. Maliwal has made unauthorised entry, trespassed, breached the security of the CM residence, prevented government officers from discharging their duty and assaulted the complainant, she is liable for her action as per law,” Kumar said

Earlier in the day, Atishi said Maliwal is the “face of the BJP’s conspiracy” which seeks to malign AAP and Kejriwal.

“Since Arvind Kejriwal walked out of Tihar on bail, the BJP is scared. It hatched a conspiracy and Maliwal was sent to the CM’s house on May 13 to level baseless allegations against Arvind Kejriwal. Maliwal was the face of this conspiracy… she arrived at Kejriwal’s residence unannounced and without an appointment… Then she levelled allegations against Bibhav Kumar,” said Atishi.

The Delhi BJP said that after the incident involving Maliwal, Atishi’s statement was merely one of “confusion and disappointment”.

“So far, Kejriwal’s silence on the entire matter clearly indicates that he is defending a thug. Now that Swati Maliwal’s case is tightening the noose around Kejriwal and he is surrounded by suspicion, Atishi’s statements reflect disappointment and despair in this manner,” said Virendra Sachdeva, Delhi BJP president.