Swati Maliwal assault case: The Delhi Police submitted in its remand paper on late Saturday (May 18) evening seeking seven days custody of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Personal Assistant Bibhav Kumar in connection with the alleged assault on AAP MP Swati Maliwal said that it was a “serious case” where the “brutal assault” could have turned “fatal”. The investigating agency told Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Goyal, who sent Kumar to five-day police custody, that Kumar did not cooperate with the police and had been evasive in his responses.
"This is a very serious case where a Member of Parliament, a public figure, has been brutally assaulted which could have been fatal. Despite specific questions, the accused has not cooperated in the investigation and has been evasive in his replies," said the remand paper signed by North District Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Anjitha Chepyala.
The remand application cited the medical reports that came yesterday and said that Maliwal's testimony before the magistrate was corroborated by the medical evidence.
DVR of spot yet to be provided: Police
According to Maliwal's allegations, Kumar screamed, threatened and used abusive language against her, besides being "brutally assaulting", dragging and banging her head on a centre table, the report said.
It added that the “most vital evidence” was the digital video record (DVR) of the spot of alleged crime but it was yet to be provided to the police.
According to the plea seeking police custody, a junior engineer in the CM's residence, after admitting that he did not have access to the place where the DVR and CCTV cameras were installed, provided a video of the dining room but it was later found to be blank at the time of the alleged incident.
According to the remand application, Kumar was present at the chief minister’s residence and after being questioned, provided evasive replies.
"His presence at the scene of the crime (SOC) raises a strong possibility of tampering with crucial evidence, including electronic evidence. The accused is an influential person and having worked more than nine years in an authoritative position can influence, and pressure the witnesses in the CM house," it said.
Police cite reasons for custody
The police explained the reasons for police custody and said that Kumar was still working in the CM's residence despite being terminated as the CM's personal secretary in April 2024 and needed to be questioned about the capacity and authority under which he was working.
It said another case was registered against Kumar in Noida for allegedly assaulting an on-duty public servant.
"Since a brutal attack is made on a public figure who is a sitting MP, a sustained interrogation is very much required to find out the motive behind brutal attack and to ascertain the conspiracy angles or involvement of some person or organisation having inimical to our country," the paper said.
It said that according to Kumar, he had formatted his mobile in Mumbai on Friday and that his mobile phone was password protected.
"Without the personal presence and assistance of the accused, as this instrument is password protected, the phone and its apps cannot be accessed. Also, he has to be taken to an expert to retrieve the mobile data and to ascertain the factum of formatting of the mobile phone of the accused, which is an important piece of evidence," the plea for remand said.
It said that Kumar could threaten witnesses and tamper evidence as he was in a "position of command" and also had "access to the SOC".
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