Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, intelligence officials claimed, had been cautioned against a physical attack on him a week ago.
According to an intelligence official, the input had been conveyed to the Delhi Police special branch “6-7 days ago.” The Delhi Chief Minister was attacked while participating in a road show in west Delhi on Saturday evening.
While the police officially maintained there were no “specific” apprehensions about Mr. Kejriwal’s security, they also claimed that they had, over the course of the last week, “requested” Mr. Kejriwal’s core team to “allow more police personnel” to be stationed on the vehicle being used in road shows. This request, the police claim, was “denied” by the team managing the Chief Minister’s affairs in this respect.
A police source, while acknowledging the receipt of the input but terming it a “general one”, admitted that similar inputs generated by its own team of officials from the special branch – who have been attending public events in which Mr. Kejriwal has participating over the last week – had conveyed these to Mr. Kejriwal’s core team.
“There was no specific input about any particular event but we were alerted about a possible physical attack on Mr. Kejriwal when he was either out on a morning walk or participating in a public event such as a road show,” a police source claimed.
“It’s appalling that the Delhi Police knew of the impending attack on the CM and it did not try to stop it. Clear that it’s a conspiracy and is being controlled from the top. CMs security is the job of Delhi Police and they are under oath to ensure it. Then why this callousness?” Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia tweeted.