New development has come out in the Swati Maliwal assault case, as the main accused in the case, Bibhav Kumar, has been sent to judicial custody for four days by the Delhi court. Kumar, Kejriwal’s close aide, was today remanded to five days in police custody and produced before the Tis Hazari court in Delhi in the afternoon.
The Delhi Police had requested a four-day judicial remand concerning Kumar, which the court has granted now. The police took him to Kejriwal’s residence early on Monday to recreate the scene where the alleged assault was committed. Kumar was arrested from the Chief Minister’s home on 18 May and first put under police remand.
The incident reportedly came to light after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha member of parliament Swati Maliwal complained of being physically attacked by Kumar when she went to meet Kejriwal in his house on May 13. The Delhi Police later included another charge in FIR, commonly heard in cases related to persons of high caliber- destruction of evidence.
In the interrogation, the police asked Kumar what he was doing at the CM’s residence on May 18, five days after the alleged assault incident. They also asked about his relationship with Maliwal and why Maliwal met Kejriwal on May 13.
The Delhi Police have seized Kumar’s phone and the CCTV recorder that was recovered from the Kejriwal residence. The latter will now be taken for a forensic test. Police also intend to search for more details about the incident at the site; as many as eight CCTV cameras were also placed at the scene.
Regarding further development of the case, the continued judicial arrest of the accused and the ongoing investigation will be considered these sections will be closely monitored largely due to the high-profile nature of the charges and the political consequences associated with them.
