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| Police search Kejriwal’s house for CCTV footage | | | Agencies
Around 20 officers of the Delhi police on Friday searched Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence in the Civil Lines area to seize CCTV footage of the alleged attack on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash late on Monday. Around 40 policemen stood guard outside during the operation.
The police later said the video recording on the premises was running 40 minutes and 42 seconds behind real time.
Crucial evidence
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Harendra Singh, who led the team, said: “When the cameras were examined, it was found out that the timing being displayed of the event was 40 minutes and 42 seconds behind the actual time, which establishes the complainant’s claim that the incident happened around 12.10 a.m. on Tuesday.”
The police said there were 21 cameras installed on the premises, of which seven were not recording the footage. “The Forensic Science Laboratory team will examine whether there was any malfunction and when the recording was stopped,” Mr. Singh said, adding that there was no camera in the drawing room where the alleged attack took place.
The police said they had informed the Chief Minister’s Office in writing at 10 a.m. on Friday that a team would visit the premises to collect evidence.
Mr. Kejriwal was present when the team entered the premises around 12 noon. The search continued for two hours.
“The local police were accompanied by the forensics and cyber team. The staff managing the CCTV control room were questioned and their help was sought in collecting the footage,” said Mr. Singh.
The police said they had decided to search the CM’s residence as their request for the CCTV footage from teh CMO had been ignored. “On February 20, the CMO was asked to send the footage of the premises but when they didn’t, it became imperative for us to visit the scene of crime and collect evidence,” said the Additional DCP.
Delhi government sources, however, denied having received any written intimation from the police on February 20 or Friday morning. Countering the claim, the police claimed they had the ‘receiving acknowledgement’ document.
Responding to the alleged revelation of the recording running late, government sources blamed the police and said the CM’s security and maintenance of the cameras was the responsibility of the Delhi Police. Mr. Singh, however, said, “The cameras are installed by the Public Works Department and are maintained by the CM’s private officers. Police have no role to play.”
When asked if Mr Kejriwal was aware of the delay in CCTV recording before the Aam Admi Party released a video alleging that Mr Prakash had left the premises around 11:30 p.m. on Monday, Mr Singh said it was a matter of investigation.
The police said the officers did not enter the residential premises of Mr. Kejriwal and did not interact with him; the officers only questioned the caretaker and other staff on the premises.
Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Ashutosh questioned the Delhi Police “investigation”, saying the officials were enquiring about the paint on the walls of the CM's house under the pretext of the search only to humiliate him. The police however, said the questions were asked as a part of the probe to ascertain if there were any cameras in the area that may have been uninstalled.
Mr. Kejriwal , who was at home when the police team first entered, said in a tweet that a lot of police personnel had been sent to his house to search it, which was “a very good thing”. He followed it up by asking when BJP president Amit Shah would be questioned in the case of Judge Loya’s death.
In another tweet, Mr. Kejriwal said the Chief Minister's house was searched on the allegation of "two slaps" so shouldn't "the murder of Judge Loya" also be investigated. |
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