Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Friday claimed that following the arrest of a Delhi Police head constable by the Anti Corruption Branch (ACB), Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi called the head of the ACB asking him to transfer the case to the Delhi Police. Speaking on the sidelines of an event to launch a compensation scheme for farmers — the Gajendra Singh Kisan Sahayta Yojana — Kejriwal said that following the constable’s arrest last Friday by the ACB, several phone calls were made at all levels. “Uske baad toh bhaisahab, upar se neeche, phone pe phone, phone pe phone (Soon after the arrest, from top to bottom, there were phone calls),” he claimed. “Police Commissioner khud phone kar raha hai humare ACB ke head ko ki yeh maamla humein de do. Kyun de do bhai? Abhi tak tumne corruption nahi theek kara (Police Commissioner himself called the ACB head asking him to hand over the case to them. Why should this be done? You haven’t been able to weed out corruption so far),” he added. [related-post] Meanwhile, attacking the Home Ministry and the Central government, Kejriwal said they were “putting in all efforts to ensure that the AAP government remains unsuccessful”. “You all know Delhi doesn’t have full statehood. So for many things, we have to write to the Home Ministry. It has been three months since I became the CM and I have sent so many letters and proposals, but I haven’t got a single response. But I want to say this, the people of Delhi are with us and in five years, we will change the city,” he said. On the issue of corruption, Kejriwal said, “Soon after the ACB helpline was started, people got scared. Instead of accepting bribes themselves, officials are now seeking bribes through middlemen. But yesterday, we caught middlemen and suspended three sub-registrars also”. “The Central government and the BJP say we cannot investigate corrupt police officials. Why? Is police corruption very dear?” he said. “Before elections, we have struggled and afterwards, too (we are struggling). As much as we struggled outside of the government, we are doing the same amount inside as well,” he added. Responding to the CM’s statement, Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said, “As a department policy, we do not comment on the statements of highly placed dignitaries.”
