New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) Amid the row over the murder of a MCD sanitation worker and AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar’s bid to get the family justice, the party’s chief Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday asked the Centre about the whereabouts of his party’s MLA. He alleged that the Delhi Police picked him up from his home, smashed CCTV cameras and took away the DVR.

He added that the country would not tolerate such hooliganism.

Kejriwal took to social media ‘X’ and said, “Prime Minister Modi, where is our MLA Kuldeep Kumar? At 4 a.m., your Delhi Police picked up Kuldeep Kumar from his home, smashed the CCTV cameras, and took away the DVR. Your police are revealing nothing.”

“If the police can pick up an MLA from his home in this manner—without any information or reason—then where is the helpless common man supposed to go in this country. This country will not tolerate such hooliganism from you,” he said in the post.

Arvind Kejriwal also shared a post of AAP leader Sanjeev Jha: “This morning at 4 a.m., people in plain clothes came and took Kuldeep Kumar away. The cameras at his house were smashed, and the DVR was also taken. It’s afternoon now, but there’s still no information on where Kuldeep ji is.”

Sanjeev Jha said that they were not getting any response from the police.

“I’ve been standing outside the DCP Eastern Range office for the last two-and-a-half hours. I’ve been trying to meet and talk to the DCP, but I’m not getting any response. My direct question to the Delhi Police Commissioner is — has raising one’s voice for justice for Dalits now become a crime? Will a current MLA who speaks out against murder be intimidated into silence,” he said.

He further added that this arrogance was not right.

“This arrogance is not right. Voices cannot be suppressed by the might of police uniforms and batons,” he added.

A political standoff appears to be intensifying between the AAP and the Delhi Police following the brutal murder of an MCD sanitation worker while he was on duty in the national Capital.

Twenty-four-year-old Anil Kumar, an MCD sanitation worker, was stabbed to death while on duty in Delhi’s Kalyanpuri area on Sunday morning.

CCTV footage reportedly showed the accused attacking the sanitation worker with a knife. A day later, on Monday, police arrested the accused in the case; however, the identity has not yet been released.

AAP Delhi state President Saurabh Bharadwaj has levelled serious allegations against the Delhi Police, claiming that authorities are putting pressure on the family of the deceased worker to conduct his last rites against their wishes.

According to the AAP, the family is seeking justice for the killing along with adequate compensation, but the police are allegedly compelling them to proceed with the funeral. The party has also claimed that thousands of sanitation workers have been holding a sit-in protest for the past two days following the worker’s death.

The protesters are primarily demanding justice for the deceased and compensation of Rs 1 crore for his family. The AAP has maintained that the government should take immediate steps to address the concerns of the bereaved family and ensure that those responsible for the killing are brought to justice.

AAP leaders alleged that amid the ongoing protest and the family’s demand for compensation, the police moved the body from the hospital to the family’s residence and subsequently pressured the relatives to conduct the cremation.

The party further claimed that police officials took some members of the family away early in the morning.

Describing the alleged developments as a serious matter, AAP leaders questioned why there was such urgency to conduct the last rites without obtaining the family’s consent.

They stressed that the deceased belonged to a poor Dalit family and argued that the Chief Minister Rekha Gupta government and police should listen to the family’s demands instead of putting pressure on them.

Bharadwaj maintained that the family should be allowed to decide when and how the last rites are performed and should not be subjected to pressure while seeking justice.

Citing the family, the AAP also alleged that police officials have repeatedly been asking them to complete the last rites. The family, however, has maintained that it wants justice for the murder victim and a clear response from the Delhi government regarding its demands before proceeding with the cremation.

–IANS

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