Delhi CM attack case: Accused confronted with friend who sent him money, police say

New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) The Delhi Police has confronted a man accused of assaulting Chief Minister Rekha Gupta with his friend who had allegedly transferred money to him, an official said on Saturday.

The friend of attacker Rajeshbhai Khimji (41), identified as Teshin, was brought to Delhi from Gujarat's Rajkot on Friday night for further questioning and was made to confront Khimji to verify facts, police said.

Khimji had allegedly sent a video of Gupta's personal residence at Shalimar Bagh to Tehsin, while the latter had sent him Rs 2,000 and was in constant contact with him before the alleged attack on the chief minister during a "Jan Sunwai" programme at her Civil Lines camp office on Wednesday.

Police said five cases of assault and possession of liquor were lodged against Khimji, an autorickshaw driver, between 2017 and 2024 at Rajkot's Bhaktinagar police station and multiple preventive actions were also taken against him.

These actions were taken in 2017, 2020 and twice in 2022 under various sections of the Gujarat Prohibition Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Khimji was also externed once in 2021 under section 56 of the Bombay Police Act.

According to the facts of a 2017 case, Khimji hit a person on his head with a sword and also beat him up with a bat used for washing clothes. In 2022, after he had a fight with his wife, he had inflicted injuries on his own head with a blade to terrorise the family members. He got nine stitches then.

Khimji was into illicit liquor smuggling as well. The Delhi Police is questioning more than 10 people, including Khimji's friends and family members in Rajkot.

The officer said they have seized the accused's mobile phone and are following the leads that have emerged.

Khimji told the investigators that he had planned to stage a protest at the Ramleela Ground here against the Supreme Court's order on relocating stray dogs, similar to how social activist Anna Hazare had agitated over the corruption issue.

"If required, we can also take him to his native place in Rajkot as part of the investigation," a source said. Khimji's mobile phone has been sent for a forensic examination to ascertain if he deleted any crucial information before the assault.

Khimji was sent to a five-day police custody by a court. He has told police that he went to the chief minister's "Jan Sunwai" programme to raise the issue of stray dogs.

According to the Rajkot Police, Khimji went to Delhi from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh on August 19 to take part in a protest against the apex court's ruling on stray dogs.

His mother, Bhanuben, also vouched for his love for stray dogs and said he was upset over the recent court order about strays in Delhi.

"The accused attacked the chief minister after he failed to raise the issue before her. He also told us that after the recent Supreme Court order to remove stray dogs from the streets of Delhi, he had a dream in which Lord Bhairav asked him to take up the cause of the poor animals," said another police source.

Lord Bhairav is an incarnation of Shiva, whose mount (vehicle) is a black dog. PTI SSJ RC