Delhi Police visits CM Arvind Kejriwal’s house twice to serve notice over BJP complaint

A Delhi Police Crime Branch team reached Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s house on Saturday morning to serve a notice in connection with a case related to his allegation that the BJP attempted to bribe Aam Aadmi Party MLAs. Following the accusations, BJP had filed an official complaint against four AAP leaders, including Kejriwal. The police team also visited the residence of AAP cabinet minister Atishi.

On Friday evening, the police had attempted to deliver a notice to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at his official residence in Civil Lines, urging his cooperation in a preliminary inquiry prompted by the complaint filed by BJP. However, the police returned empty-handed as the AAP leader was not home.

The Delhi Chief Minister’s Office on Saturday stated that Kejriwal's staff was willing to accept the notice on his behalf, but the police refused to hand it over. The Chief Minister’s Office has alleged that the police had brought along media crews and suggested their intention was to "defame the CM, not to serve the notice."

Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj has alleged that the Assistant Commissioner of Police intentionally refrained from delivering the notice to the Chief Minister's office. He also shared a video posted by AAP, where police personnel declined to respond to queries about why they insisted on personally delivering the notice to the Delhi Chief Minister instead of through his office.

A senior Crime Branch officer clarified that the notice would only be served to Kejriwal in person, not to any of his office staff. The officer mentioned that along with delivering the notice, some initial questioning would also take place, necessitating the chief minister's presence.

Last week, the Aam Aadmi Party had claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party had proposed a sum of ₹25 crore to each of its seven MLAs with the intention of persuading them to switch sides. AAP leader Atishi informed reporters that the BJP has initiated "Operation Lotus 2.0" in Delhi.

In retaliation to AAP’s allegations, Delhi BJP submitted a formal complaint to Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora. "We had said Kejriwal is making false allegations. The truth behind Kejriwal's lie is about to be exposed now. He cannot lie and then run away from an investigation," said Delhi BJP Chief Virendra Sachdeva, calling the allegations “baseless.​