The mystery surrounding the brief “disappearance” of AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar has been resolved with the Delhi Police telling the High Court that he had been taken into preventive detention early Tuesday morning. The Delhi Police’s submission came while the court was hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Kumar’s family alleging that he had been illegally detained from his residence in the early hours of Tuesday around 4 am.
The police told a bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Ravinder Dudeja that the Kondli MLA had been taken into preventive detention and released in the afternoon at 3.48 pm. The AAP said that Kumar’s detention came while he was leading a protest over the killing of a sanitation worker in east Delhi’s Kalyanpuri.
With Kumar’s release, the court said the immediate purpose of the petition had been served. It added that his family would be free to pursue appropriate legal remedies for any other relief.
Kumar’s lawyer, senior advocate Shadan Farasat, had told the court that men in plain clothes had allegedly “picked up” the MLA from his residence early Tuesday morning. According to the AAP, Kumar was taken away around 4 am, and his family initially had no information about his whereabouts.
Kejriwal Questions Police Action
AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal also questioned the police action, alleging that officers had taken Kumar to an undisclosed location. He further alleged that CCTV cameras at the MLA’s residence were damaged and the DVR taken away.
Protest Over Sanitation Worker Killing
The detention came a day after Kumar joined sanitation workers and auto-tipper drivers protesting at Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital over the killing of an on-duty sanitation worker in Kalyanpuri.
The victim, identified as 27-year-old Anil, was a contractual sanitation worker engaged by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi through a private company. He was allegedly stabbed while collecting garbage in Kalyanpuri on the morning of August 16. CCTV footage of the incident has since emerged and the killing has triggered protests by his colleagues.
The protesters have been demanding Rs 1 crore compensation for Anil’s family and a permanent government job for one of his family members. Hundreds of workers gathered at the hospital on Monday and reportedly refused to allow the body to be taken from the mortuary for the last rites until their demands were addressed.
Kumar, who represents Kondli in the Delhi Assembly, has previously raised issues concerning civic infrastructure and sanitation in east Delhi. In July, he had also criticised conditions at Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital after rainwater reportedly entered parts of its OPD.