NEW DELHI: A 39-year-old man who had gone to meet Arvind Kejriwal as part of a delegation of clerics on Monday was arrested after live bullets were found on him. This is the second security incident involving the Delhi Chief Minister after a chilli powder attack on him last week.
Mohammad Imran was among a dozen clerics who had gone to Arvind Kejriwal’s home for a public hearing orjanta durbar, with a request to increase the salary paid by the Waqf Board.
A bullet was found in his wallet by a security guard who was frisking him.
Imran, a caretaker at a mosque called Masjid Bawli Wali, has been arrested under the stringent Arms Act.
He told the police that he had found the bullets in the donation box of a mosque a few months ago, kept them in his wallet and forgot about them. He claimed he had planned to throw the bullets in the river Yamuna but decided to keep them in his wallet.
Last Thursday, a man was arrested after he flung chilli powder at Mr Kejriwal right outside his office – an incident that raised questions about the Chief Minister’s security and provoked allegations from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that their chief was being targeted.
The attacker, Anil Sharma, claimed that he had tried to meet the Chief Minister one-and-a-half-years ago but after he could not meet him, he broke the glass panes in the reception area of Delhi Secretariat.
The police drew criticism as they initially claimed the chilli powder may have fallen “unintentionally” from Sharma’s pocket. Later, they said the 40-year-old was “unstable and incoherent”.
Mr Kejriwal yesterday alleged that the BJP was behind the chilli powder attack on him as it was “baffled” by the “good work” done by the AAP government. Speaking at a one-day special session of the Delhi Assembly called to discuss the attack, Mr Kejriwal said, “Narendra Modi should resign if he cannot protect Delhi’s chief minister.”