A man running a non-governmental organisation threw black ink on Baba Ramdev during a press conference at the Constitution Club here on Saturday. The accused was later arrested.
Kamran Siddiqui (40), running Real Cause, in Okhla, had sought Ramdev's opinion on the 2008 Batla House encounter in which suspects of the Delhi serial blasts were killed. The yoga guru refused to take the question and soon afterwards Kamran allegedly hurled the ink he carried in a small plastic bottle.
Ramdev had called the press meet to announce his plans to campaign in the upcoming Assembly elections on issues such as black money and corruption.
Immediately after the attack, Ramdev's supporters caught hold of Kamran and beat him up before handing him over to the police. His shirt was torn and he was seen bleeding from the lips, eyewitnesses said. The police then escorted Ramdev from the club amid a jostling crowd.
All through the press meet, Janata Party president Subramaniam Swamy was sitting next to Baba Ramdev. The ink smeared Ramdev's face and stained only a bit of his clothing.
Speaking to reporters soon after the incident, Ramdev said that he would continue his campaign against corruption and would not be deterred by such attacks. “We had demanded action on black money and this is the gift we got. Black ink or anything else is not going to deter us. We were shown black flags, but we did not care,” he said.
A case was later registered against Kamran under Section 153 (intent to cause riot) and 355 (assault with intent to dishonour a person) of the Indian Penal Code at the Parliament Street police station. The case was based on a complaint by constable Narsi Meena of the Security Unit.
Kamran's wife Yashmin said she came to know about the incident through the news channels. “I had switched on the television to watch the news around noon. He was always emotional about the Batla House encounter as it took place in our vicinity. But he never told me about his intention to do any such thing. I think the attack was a spontaneous reaction to what had happened at the press conference and not premeditated.”
Kamran's sister Amina said it was wrong for her brother to have attacked Ramdev. But it was equally wrong for the people to beat him up. “Kamran's was an emotional reaction to an issue close to his heart. But he did not physically harm anybody. People should not have taken the law into their own hands and beaten him up so brutally.”
Kamran had unsuccessfully contested the MCD election on Nationalist Congress Party ticket in 2007, his family said.
