Delhi’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) chief Surender Singh Yadav’s allegations of threat to life from Mukesh Kumar Meena, the other chief of the anti-graft agency, rocked the Delhi Assembly on Friday.
A day after The Hindu reported about the alleged confrontation between the two officers, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia spoke on the issue in the House and accused Mr. Meena of being involved in a hawala racket.
Mr. Sisodia said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had sent a secret note to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh mentioning allegations of Mr. Meena’s involvement in a curtain purchase scam and a hawala racket unearthed in North Delhi. The Delhi government is planning to move court on Saturday and seek an order restraining Mr. Meena from entering the ACB office, sources said.
The clamour for Mr. Meena’s resignation as ACB chief grew louder with senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Ashutosh leading the charge against him on social media.
“Delhi police commissioner should register a criminal case ag Joint CP Mukesh Meena for giving life threats to ACB chief S S Yadav,” tweeted Mr. Ashutosh.
“Meena’s appointment is illegal. Why he is asking the ACB chief, Mr. Yadav, who faced bullets for his country fighting insurgency in Assam, to give him the FIR register? The LG and the police commissioner should give justice to this patriot,” Mr. Ashutosh told The Hindu.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Meena met Mr. Jung and is understood to have apprised him of the specifics of the alleged confrontation between him and Mr. Yadav over access to the ACB police station’s FIR book. Mr. Meena also briefed senior Delhi Police officers on the issue.
Police officers privy to Mr. Meena’s interaction with the Delhi Police brass said the senior bureaucrat has been asked to file a detailed report on the incident “for further action” which “might include transfer of Mr. Yadav”.
Mr. Yadav, meanwhile, stuck to his guns when asked about the developments. “There are rumours that efforts to transfer me out of Delhi are being made so that I can get out of his (Mr. Meena’s) way. I want to make it amply clear that I am not afraid of any such action against me and that I remain committed to confront corruption,” Mr. Yadav told The Hindu.