AAP minister gheraoed by govt officials at Delhi Secretariat

Team Udayavani, Feb 21, 2018, 8:47 AM IST

New Delhi: Utter chaos unfolded inside the secretariat here today as Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain was mobbed by over a hundred officials and staff, hours after Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash was allegedly manhandled at the chief minister’s residence.

Officials and staff of the Delhi government raised slogans and prevented Hussain from taking the elevator to his 6th-floor office at the secretariat this afternoon. Later, police had to escort the minister to his office, sources said.

About the incident, Hussain said, “I don’t know whether they were government employees, but I will identify them.” The minister later filed a complaint with the IP Estate Police Station alleging that he was assaulted.

The AAP government also released a video showing Hussain being roughed up while his APA Himanshu Singh thrashed by a section of the agitating staff. However, Deepak Bharadwaj, general secretary of the Delhi Government Employees Association, refuted the allegations and claimed that the minister arrived when sloganeering was going on but nobody manhandled him.

Hundreds of government officials gathered at the second floor of the Delhi Secretariat, demanding an FIR against AAP MLAs, who allegedly assaulted the chief secretary. Prakash was allegedly manhandled at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence last night, an official said, even as the chief minister’s office dismissed the accusation as “bizarre and baseless”.

Meanwhile, AAP MLA Ajay Dutt, who was present at the meeting yesterday, in an email to the commissioner of police alleged that Anshu Prakash “abused” and used “casteist” remarks against him and another MLA Prakash Jarwal.

Demanding an FIR against the chief secretary, Dutt said he had asked Prakash about complaints regarding ration distribution in his constituency (Ambedkarnagar), but the CS misbehaved and left the meeting.

After the incident, the chief secretary met Lt Governor Anil Baijal and apprised him of the incident, the official added. The IAS officers association met Baijal today and raised the issue before him.