Maliwal assault case LIVE | Bibhav arrested after anticipatory bail hearing started: AAP

A Delhi Police team arrested Bibhav Kumar from the Delhi CM’s residence when he went there on Saturday morning to meet Kejriwal, a senior police officer has said.

This came a day after Maliwal recorded her statement before a magistrate at the Tis Hazari court.

“He will be produced before a court and police will seek his custody for further interrogation,” the officer told the media.

Police said they have recorded the statement of at least 10 people, including security personnel and other staff at the CM’s residence, who were present at the time of the alleged assault on May 13.

The BJP has accused AAP of resorting to victim-shaming and victim-blaming in its brazen defence of Bibhav Kumar.

BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla alleged that Kejriwal is making efforts to protect Kumar as his aide is in a position to expose the chief minister’s damaging “secrets”.

Poonawalla told reporters that AAP is essentially an “anti-women party” as he cited past allegations of mistreatment of women involving its leaders.

With AAP claiming that Maliwal is acting at the BJP’s behest, Poonawalla cited another AAP leader and Delhi Commission for Women member Vandana Singh’s support to the Rajya Sabha MP to hit out at the party.

He noted Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s criticism of AAP over the issue to ask if the Lok Sabha MP has also become a BJP agent, an allegation levelled against Maliwal by her party.

“AAP’s corruption and misconduct are followed by disinformation. It has become the party’s standard operating procedure,” he said, comparing the Maliwal case with Draupadi’s disrobing episode in the Mahabharata.

AAP is now busy in Maliwal’s character assassination, too, he added.

Kumar is merely a puppet; it is Kejriwal who holds the strings, Poonawalla alleged and attacked Opposition leaders such as Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Chaturvedi for not speaking up on the issue.

Noting that Kumar lodged a police complaint against Maliwal, who has accused him of assaulting her, four days after the incident occurred at the chief minister’s residence, the BJP leader said he is clearly acting at Kejriwal’s behest.

Poonawalla also cited Maliwal’s medical report, which has reportedly confirmed bruises on her, to hit out at AAP.

The Delhi BJP has accused AAP leaders of circulating “edited” videos to tarnish the image of Swati Maliwal, who is their own party MP.

It is regrettable that “edited” videos are being circulated on social media groups since Friday in an attempt to “defame” Maliwal, who is a member of the AAP, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva claimed.

A couple of videos from the chief minister’s residence from the day of the incident have surfaced on social media, one showed Maliwal having an argument with security personnel, while the other showed her walking out of the CM’s residence in the Civil Lines.

“Now that the entire Aam Aadmi Party is tarnishing the image of Swati Maliwal, it’s time Kejriwal comes forward and speaks on the matter,” Sachdeva said.

The AAP has accused Maliwal of lying and becoming a part of the BJP conspiracy to frame Kejriwal in a fake case in the midst of elections.

Sachdeva said now that Kejriwal’s aide has been arrested by police, many “dirty pages” of AAP’s politics will become public.

If the AAP is trying to implicate Maliwal by circulating “edited” videos, it would be better for the Delhi Police to immediately take possession of the complete CCTV footage of the chief minister’s residence, Sachdeva said.

He charged that Maliwal is not the first woman leader of the AAP that the party has defamed.

Earlier, they also raised questions about Kiran Bedi, Shazia Ilmi and Richa Pandey who have all left the AAP, Sachdeva added.