Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal attacked with chilli powder at secretariat

A man, reportedly identified himself as Anil Kumar “Hindustani”, threw chilli powder on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal when he was coming out of his office in the Delhi Secretariat on Tuesday.

#WATCH: CCTV visuals of the incident that took place at Delhi's Central Secretariat where chilli powder fell from a man's hand. He had come to meet Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal with his grievances. Investigation underway whether it was an attack or powder fell unintentionally pic.twitter.com/OlRrScpmC2

— ANI (@ANI) November 20, 2018

The incident took place around 2:10 pm when the chief minister was leaving for lunch. The man has been taken into custody. The man was targeting the bespectacled chief minister's eyes, officials said. Kumar, whose Aadhaar card has been recovered, brought the chilli powder to the secretariat in packets of 'khaini', or chewing tobacco. After throwing red pepper powder on Kejriwal, Kumar threatened to shoot him after he comes out of jail, an official recounted. The attack took place outside the chief minister's chamber on the third floor when he was leaving for lunch.

The Aam Aadmi Party tweeted saying: "Dangerous attack on Delhi CM @ArvindKejriwal. Serious security lapses from Delhi Police. Even the Chief Minister is not safe in Delhi."

"Even the Chief Minister is not safe in Delhi. The man crossed all security barriers and even scanners but the chilli powder was not detected," AAP said in a statement. 

How can any random person walk into the Secretariat and attack the Chief Minister. @ArvindKejriwal has faced many such attacks on regular basis. This is a serious security lapse : @Saurabh_MLAgk pic.twitter.com/39RhNHwStD

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) November 20, 2018

"Rogue elements who are attacking the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal are backed by the BJP.  They wanted to attack the Chief Minister even on the inauguration of Signature," said AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj at a press conference. 

"The attackers are being provided full impunity by the Delhi Police, the police has no intention to take firm action against the attack on the CM, said AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia alleged that the BJP, in collusion with Delhi Police, is hatching a conspiracy to attack the chief minister.Sisodia said the party and its members are not going to be cowed by the BJP's "petty" tactics. The Aam Aadmi Party has described the incident as "politically motivated".

"The attack surprisingly took place at a high security area. Recently, BJP Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari reached near stage during the inauguration of signature bridge.  BJP in collusion with Delhi Police is hatching a conspiracy to attack the chief minister," Sisodia told reporters.

"We are not going to be cowed by the BJP'S petty tactics," he added. 

The Delhi BJP chief said such incidents "cannot be tolerated or justified by anybody". "This calls for a high-level probe," Tiwari said.