DELHI Chief Minister Rekha Gupta was attacked during a ‘Jan Sunwai’ programme at her camp office in Civil Lines on Wednesday morning, her office said, terming it part of a “well-planned conspiracy to kill her”. The accused, Sakriya Rajeshbhai Khimjibhai, a 41-year-old resident of Rajkot (Gujarat), was detained, and is being jointly interrogated by IB and Delhi Police’s Special Cell, according to a senior police officer. The attack took place around 8.15 am, he said. PWD Minister Parvesh Verma said that the Chief Minister has sustained injuries to her hand, shoulder and head. A senior police official, who is privy to the probe, said that it was a serious attack, adding that it could have been life threatening.

 

“We are doing a joint interrogation with the IB, Special Cell and Intelligence agencies. He had five criminal cases, including two assault cases involving knife attack and three under Excise Act,” the official told PTI. He said that police have not charged him conspiracy yet. The accused was not carrying any weapon because he knew that there would be strict checking. He was carrying a bag containing clothes and some papers. Police have registered an FIR under attempt to murder charges in connection with the attack. A case under section 109(1) [attempt to murder] of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been lodged at the Civil Lines police station, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Raja Banthia said in a statement.

 

He has also been booked for allegedly assaulting and obstructing public servant from discharging his duty. Sources said that Khimjibhai came to Delhi two days ago and stayed in north Delhi’s Civil Lines. Delhi Minister Kapil Mishra said this is not an ordinary attack, adding that the attacker tried to “push the Chief Minister down on the ground and beat her”. “Such an attack on anyone, that too on a woman Chief Minister, who is dedicated to public work round the clock, was unheard of in Delhi,” Mishra told reporters. The Chief Minister has been attended by doctors and is currently under observation. She underwent MLC (medico legal case) examination, CMO officials said. Official sources said that the attack on CM Gupta was part of a ‘well-planned conspiracy”, citing CCTV footage from her residence in Shalimar Bagh. They said the footage clearly shows that the assailant had begun preparations for the attack at least 24 hours in advance. The CCTV captured him during a visit to the CM’s residence on Wednesday.

 

The video captures the accused conducting a recce of the premises, recording visuals of the Chief Minister’s residence, and later attempting to carry out the assault. In the footage, he is seen talking to someone over the phone during his visit a day earlier. The CCTV footage has been handed over to the police, who are carrying out a detailed investigation into the incident, sources said. Meanwhile, Bhanuben Sakaria, mother of the accused, claimed in Rajkot that her son was not affiliated to any political party and had gone to the national capital to take part in a protest against the Supreme Court’s order on stray dogs. She also claimed her son is a “dog lover”. “He loves dogs, cows and birds. That is why he was upset after the SC said all the stray dogs in Delhi should be captured,” she said, adding that he went to Haridwar a few days back and told her over phone that he would go to Delhi to participate in protests against the Supreme Court’s order. “That’s all he told us over the phone when we asked when he would return,” Bhanuben said.