Delhi CM Kejriwal’s attacker had created ruckus at secretariat earlier too, say cops

Anil Kumar Sharma was arrested late on Tuesday night for attempting to throw chilli powder at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal at the Delhi secretariat.

Anil Kumar Sharma, the man who allegedly tried to attack Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday, has reportedly told Delhi Police that he had created a ruckus at the secretariat one-and-a-half-years ago and smashed a glass frame after being refused permission to meet the chief minister. Police are yet to verify the allegations.

Police arrested Anil Kumar, who allegedly threw chilli powder at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, at Delhi Secretariat in New Delhi, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018.(PTI)

Sharma, who was arrested late on Tuesday night for attempting to throw chilli powder at Kejriwal, has also told investigators that he had cooked up the story about his mother suffering from tuberculosis in order to gain access to the CM’s office.

The police said they are yet to trace Sharma’s mother. The former neighbours of accused Sharma, however, claimed that he was an orphan and had been brought up by his aunt.

Sharma’s confessions allegedly were made during a ‘joint interrogation’ by multiple investigating agencies.

 

Police said that Sharma holds a degree in English as well as fashion designing and has nearly 12 years of experience in working for separate private firms. He is currently employed in the billing and inventory departments of a private company dealing in hydraulic machines. “He works in the Gurgaon branch of the firm and draws a monthly salary of ₹14,000,” said a police officer.

Sharma has told the police that he has been “mentally disturbed” for more than five years because of which he had distanced himself from most of his relatives — including his wife and 11-year-old daughter, who live with his in-laws in Haridwar. “He is close to only one of his two brothers, who helps him get treated for his mental health issues,” said another officer.

On Wednesday, a city court sent Sharma to 14 days of judicial custody after the police found most of his responses to be ‘incoherent’, said Amit Sharma, additional deputy commissioner of police (central).

Sharma told police that he wanted to kill Kejriwal as well as deputy CM Manish Sisodia. “I couldn’t succeed this time, but I tried my best,” a video showed Sharma telling his interrogators soon after the attack. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the video. The police, however, said that Sharma was ‘mentally unstable’ and did not have any definitive plan to carry out his threats.

“(Kejriwal) 9 saal se ullu banaa raha hai...sachche deshbhakt ko ullu bana raha hai (Kejriwal has been fooling us for the last nine years. He has been fooling true patriots,” Sharma tells police during his interrogation at one point.

“He frequently raises ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ slogans, refers to himself as a ‘true patriot’ and sees other people as ‘anti-nationals’. But he doesn’t have a fixed ideology and appears to change his opinions depending on the people he is conversing with,” said an interrogator.

Sharma has told police that he lived in west Delhi and has mentioned multiple addresses, before zeroing down on an ashram and a paying guest accommodation in Rajouri Garden.