Delhi Police have detained another man named Tahsin Saiyed in connection with the attack on Delhi CM Rekha Gupta on 20th August during a Jan Sunvai (Public Grievance Hearing). This comes after police nabbed the attacker, named Rajesh Bhai Khimji Bhai Sakariya, on the day of the incident.
Saiyed, from Rajkot, was detained for questioning after police discovered that he had transferred ₹ 2,000 to Sakariya. He was interrogated in Rajkot, along with four others, before being taken to Delhi on Friday night (16th August).
According to reports, Saiyed revealed during interrogation that he had known Sakariya for 10 years. He told the police that he was familiar with Sakariya’s aggressive behaviour. He added that Sakariya told him about his plan to visit Delhi to meet CM Rekha Gupta on Monday (18th August) and asked for ₹5000. But Saiyed gave him only ₹2000. Sakariya also sent a video of the Shalimar Bagh-located residence of CM Rekha Gupta to Saiyed.
Tahsin Saiyed further said that Sakariya told him that he was going to meet the CM regarding the issue of stray dogs. Sakariya is also said to have shared his plan to attack CM Rekha Gupta with Saiyed. When police asked Saiyed as to why he did not inform the police about Sakariya’s plan to attack the Delhi CM, he said that he ignored it, thinking Sakariya was joking. The police, however, were not convinced by Saiyed’s clarification. Saiyed’s phone has been seized by the police for examination.
After Sakariya’s arrest, his mother told the media that he was a dog lover and was upset with the Supreme Court’s recent order on relocating stray dogs to shelters.
Rajesh Sakariya’s criminal history
Rajesh Bhai Khimji Bhai Sakariya, who is an auto-driver, has five criminal cases pending against him. Legal action was taken against Sakariya in 2017, 2020 and twice in 2022 under the provisions of the Gujarat Prohibition Act, 1949 and the Code of Criminal Procedure. He was reportedly found involved in liquor smuggling.
In 2021, he was deported under Section 56 of the Bombay Police Act. According to police, in 2017, he was charged with hitting a person on the head with a sword and thrashing him with a bat used for washing clothes. In 2022, after a fight with his wife, Sakariya cut his head with a blade to scare his family members, and received nine stitches.
