New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS) A political standoff appears to be intensifying between the Aam Aadmi Party (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.
Meanwhile, the AAP has also alleged that its MLA Kuldeep Kumar was detained overnight and that a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) from his residence was confiscated.
Party MLA Sanjeev Jha termed the development as serious and said that the killing of a sanitation worker while performing his duty in Delhi was an extremely tragic and grave incident.
Jha said that Kuldeep Kumar had been raising his voice in support of the deceased worker’s family and demanded that information about his detention be made public.
He questioned the circumstances under which the AAP legislator was detained and sought clarity from the Delhi Police regarding the action being taken against him.
Sanjeev Jha said he visited the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), East District, to seek information about Kuldeep Kumar. According to Jha, he had gone to meet the DCP and demand justice for the sanitation worker’s family, but the senior police officer was not present at the office at that time.
He asserted that the Delhi Police must explain the case in which Kuldeep Kumar has allegedly been detained and clarify what action is being taken against him. The AAP MLA said transparency was necessary, particularly when the matter concerns a public representative who was allegedly attempting to raise the concerns of an aggrieved family.
The AAP has demanded that the Delhi government and the police immediately consider the demands raised by the family of the deceased sanitation worker.
The party has called for an impartial investigation into the killing and adequate financial compensation for the bereaved family.
–IANS
sd/rad