Rumours of the arrest of the former governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satya Pal Malik spread on social media on Saturday, 22nd April 22023. Satya Pal Malik’s arrest started trending on social media as he visited the RK Pram police station in Delhi. However, the Delhi police have tweeted and clarified that he is not arrested.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satyapal Malik reached the RK Puram police station in Delhi today with his supporters. After this, farmer leader Gurnam Singh Charuni tweeted that he and Satya Pal Malik have been arrested along with all the supporters in RK Puram, Delhi. The news soon went viral on social media.
In the video, Gurnam Singh Charuni said, “Hello friends. As I posted yesterday, honourable former governor Satya Pal Malik Saheb recently gave some statements and constantly speaks in favour of farmers, and he may get a punishment for that looking at the current politics of the BJP. I had just expressed a suspicion. But immediately after that, he received a summons from the CBI and he was called for the investigations. He was invited to a program by the local Khap Pradhan but the police cancelled that program abruptly and they arrested him, me, and the chief of the Khap. Right now we are n the Vasant Kunj police station and honourable former governor Saheb is in the RK Puram police station. We are receiving so many phone calls from our people regarding holding protests and roadblocks. But I request them all to stop for now. We will see what happens and fix our next programs accordingly and will convey that to you.”
After this, the Delhi Police issued a statement saying that they have not detained former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik. Delhi Police tweeted, “False information is being spread on social media handles regarding the detention of Sh. Satyapal Malik, Ex. Gov. Whereas, he himself has arrived at Police Station R K Puram along with his supporters. He has been informed that he is at liberty to leave at his own will.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Manoj C said, “Malik, along with his supporters, had come to the RK Puram police station of his own free will. We have told him that he can leave.” Another official said, “A meeting was to be held at an MCD park in RK Puram. Malik was scheduled to attend the meeting. Malik was told that this was not the place to hold a meeting. For this, he had taken permission from the concerned authorities. Malik and his supporters then left. Later, the former governor himself reached the police station. We didn’t call them.”
However, 24 people were detained by the police for erecting a tent at a public park in RK Puram without informing the police. Sagar Preet Hooda, Special CP, Law & Order (Zone II) of Delhi Police, said that Satya Pal Malik was neither arrested nor detained by Delhi Police. He said that Malik visited RK Puram police station on his own and stayed there for 2 hours, and they left the police station at around 3 pm.
Reportedly, he visited the police station after the police objected to the unauthorised at the park. The police told him that they were not allowed to hold any meeting without permission in a residential area.
In a phone call with The New Indian, Satya Pal Malik said that he had offered the police to arrest him, but the police declined to do that. He said that lots of people had gathered at his house, and due to the lack of space, he brought them to the park in RK Puram to serve them food. But police said that it was not allowed, after which they offered arrest.
It is notable that on Friday, April 21, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) summoned the former governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satya Pal Malik to appear before it for further examination and answer questions related to the Reliance insurance case in the Union Territory. Malik has been asked to appear before the agency on April 27 and April 28.
He will be questioned on the allegation that employees of Jammu and Kashmir were forced to buy insurance schemes from Reliance Insurance, which had led to the cancellation of the group medical insurance proposal. Satya Pal had alleged that BJP was forcing the scheme on the employees, and Ram Madhav had offered him Rs 300 crore in bribe to clear two files related to it, for which Ram Madhav has filed a defamation case against him.