UP man arrested for threats to Delhi CM written on Metro stations

The development came after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India regarding the incident

The Delhi Police on Wednesday said it has arrested a 33-year-old man for allegedly defacing the walls of Delhi Metro stations by scribbling threats against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Police had also released footage of the incident showing the suspect in a yellow shirt scribbling a long message on a wall at a Metro station platform. (Representational image)

The development came after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India regarding the incident even as it blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for “hatching a plan to attack and harm Kejriwal”.

Police said the arrested suspect is originally from Bareilly. “We arrested him from Bareilly after identifying him with the help of CCTVs. He works at a reputed bank in Bareilly as a loan manager. He is not associated with any political party nor was directed by anyone to do this,” said a senior police officer aware of the matter.

Police had also released footage of the incident showing the suspect in a yellow shirt scribbling a long message on a wall at a Metro station platform. On May 19, he boarded a Metro from Barakhamba station and travelled to other stations, police added.

An investigator said the suspect confessed to his involvement and said he did it out of anger. “He said he was disgruntled with a few local AAP leaders and decided to send a message. During the interrogation, he is changing his statements. The exact reason is not known. He deliberately deboarded at different stations and scribbled the messages inside the train, on signboards and walls at the platform,” he said.

Deputy commissioner of police (Metro) G Ramgopal Naik said the man arrived in Delhi on May 13 for some personal work. “Since then, he stayed in different hotels in Delhi and NCR. He said that he was undergoing treatment for his mental condition, obsessive-compulsive disorder,” said DCP Naik.

The probe also revealed that the suspect posted the threats on his Instagram account. In one of the messages, he threatened to slap and punch the CM while in another he criticised the Delhi excise policy 2021-22. He went back to Bareilly later on Monday.

Police said he was booked in sections 3 of the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Public Property Act and 72 of the Delhi Metro Railway Act. The case was lodged on the complaint of DMRC which only mentioned the defacement and not threats, said an officer.

Meanwhile, AAP, in an official statement, alleged that the arrest was a “sham”. “As expected, he has already been released on bail despite committing the grave offence of openly threatening the chief minister. Anyone who attacks the CM enjoys the BJP’s political protection. The people of Delhi remember vividly how BJP MP Tejasvi Surya led a mob to attack the CM and vandalised the property... Despite being clearly visible in CCTV footage, the Delhi police did not even name him in the FIR,” the statement said.