Court Grants Bail To UP Man Behind Metro Graffiti Targeting Arvind Kejriwal

A 33-year-old man was arrested by the Delhi Police from Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly on Wednesday for allegedly scribbling graffiti at Delhi metro stations and inside train coaches targeting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and was later granted bail by a court.

A police officer said the accused, who also posted photos of the graffiti on his Instagram account, has been identified as Ankit Goel.

On Monday, several photos of the graffiti targeting Mr Kejriwal went viral on social media, eliciting a sharp condemnation from the Aam Aadmi Party. Soon after, a CCTV video also surfaced online, showing a man writing on the wall of a metro station.

Mr Goel, who is a loan manager in a government bank in Bareilly, came to Delhi, wrote the messages and returned to his city, the police officer said, adding that the accused told the police that earlier he was an AAP supporter, but he became disaffected due to the "recent developments" in the party.

The graffiti were shared through the Instagram account "ankit.goel_91".

One of the messages written inside a metro coach read, "Kejriwal Dilli Chhor Dijiye (Kejriwal, leave Delhi). Please. Otherwise, you will have to remember three slaps, which you planted (sic) before the election. Now the real and actual punch/slap will be there soon. Today's meeting at Jhandewalan.... Ankit.Goel_91." On Wednesday afternoon, Mr Goel was produced before a magisterial court and he was granted bail.

The sources said the bail was granted on the grounds that the offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) invoked against the accused were bailable.

The Aam Aadmi Party termed the arrest a "complete sham" and said that "as expected, he has been released on bail despite committing the grave offence of openly threatening the chief minister." In a statement, the AAP alleged that anyone who attacks the chief minister enjoys the BJP's political protection. The people of Delhi remember vividly how BJP MP Tejasvi Surya led a mob to attack the CM and vandalise property, it said.

"BJP offers protection to all kinds of criminals. The people of the country are fed up with the negative, regressive politics of the BJP and will teach them a lesson on May 25," the AAP said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)