On Saturday (November 27), the Delhi police arrested former Congress MLA (Okhla) Asif Mohammed Khan for assaulting four on-duty SDMC (South Delhi Municipal Corporation) workers in the Shaheen Bagh area. The development came a day after the video of the assault went viral on social media.
Delhi Police says it has arrested former MLA Asif Mohammad Khan after a video of him abusing & assaulting on-duty MCD staff in Shaheen Bagh area went viral
— ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2021
The video of the incident was shared on Twitter by journalist Wasim Akram Tyagi. In a tweet, he wrote, “Most educated Muslims in North India live in Okhla. Institutions such as Jamia Millia Islamia are located here Look at the misfortune of the people here. They have got an ignorant leader. He is the former MLA of Okhla and the brother of Kerala Governor.”
Asif Mohammed Khan was seen thrashing four SDMC employees with a stick. He had also forced them to bend down and hold their ears with their hands, in the position known as becoming Murga. “Murga ban (Squat on the ground like chicken),” he and his followers yelled at the workers. The ex-Congress MLA was seen hurling choicest of expletives at the municipal workers for removing a political banner of the party, on the supposed instructions of the Aam Aadmi Party.
The matter has been taken cognizance of. Concerned officials have been directed to take appropriate action.
— #DelhiPolice (@DelhiPolice) November 26, 2021
However, Asif Mohammed Khan said that he didn’t know that the persons he assaulted are municipal workers, and said that he punished them for removing party banners. He alleged that hoardings of a local AAP MLA and municipal corporations remained untouched, but hoardings of the Congress party in Okhla area are immediately removed. “I saw that some men were removing Congress party hoardings and posters near my home in Okhla. When I questioned why they never removed posters and hoardings of other parties they did not answer. I just taught them a lesson. I have no idea who they were,” Khan said.
A senior SDMC official said that the persons assaulted by the Congress leader are employees of the civic body. The official said that the matter has been discussed with deputy commissioner Central Zone, and appropriate legal action is being taken by Zonal Authorities.
The Delhi police took cognisance of the matter after it came to light. While responding to the tweet by journalist Wasim Akram Tyagi, Delhi Police said, “The matter has been taken cognizance of. Concerned officials have been directed to take appropriate action.”
A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 34 (acts done by several people min furtherance of common intention), 352 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from doing his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servants from discharging their duties). It was based on a complaint by MCD Inspector (Lajpat Nagar) Ram Kishore.
