NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday sent a four-page letter to the Delhi Police hours after a police team visited his residence to question him on his claims during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in J&K on January 30 that “women are still being sexually assaulted”.
In his letter, Rahul sought 8-10 days to furnish a detailed reply. On March 16, the Delhi Police had served a notice on him seeking information on the alleged victims. In his 10-point reply, Rahul wondered about the Delhi Police’s urgency to visit him thrice in a week, though the Yatra concluded on January 30. He asked whether the notice was in anyway connected with the questions he has been raising inside and outside Parliament on the Adani issue.
Speaking to reporters outside Rahul’s house, Special CP (Law and Order) Sagar Preet Hooda said, “If there is any victim, who could also be a resident of Delhi, we want to provide help as early as possible. Even if the victim is from outside Delhi, we could immediately initiate legal action.”
Soon after the police team landed at his doorstep, several Congress leaders launched scathing attacks on the BJP-led Centre terming the action as the “worst kind of political vendetta, harassment, and intimidation”. Calling it a diversionary tactic, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the party will continue questioning the government on the Adani issue.
Senior lawyer and Congress MP Abhishek Singhvi said after serving the notice on March 16 along with a two-page questionnaire, the Delhi Police had gone back without raising any objection when Rahul sought 8-10 days to put together the details. Yet, they came back on Sunday wih a similar questionnaire, he said, adding, “it’s unprecedented and to create fear and intimidation after having waited for 45 days.”
Party leader Jairam Ramesh said, “This is a deliberate attempt to divert attention. We will stick to the demand of a JPC on the Adani issue.” In his pushback, BJP president J P Nadda accused Rahul of overstepping all bounds of democracy and said he should be sent packing “lock, stock and barrel”. “Those who do not believe in democracy have no place in it,” Nadda said.