Delhi Police team questions five associates of accused in Rajkot over attack on Delhi CM; one detained

The Delhi Police visited Rajkot city in Gujarat to question five people associated with Rajesh Sakaria, who allegedly attacked Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, an official said on Friday.

Sakaria, 41, who is from Rajkot’s Kotharia Road area, was arrested by the police on the charge of attempted murder for attacking CM Gupta on Wednesday, during her public interaction program in Delhi.

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Preliminary investigation in the case revealed that the accused, an auto-rickshaw driver and dog lover, was upset by the Supreme Court’s recent directive to capture and relocate stray dogs in Delhi to shelter homes.

“While Sakariya came to Delhi, he was in contact with five people in Rajkot,” said Jagdish Bangarva, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-2 of Rajkot).

Adding to his statement, he mentioned, “Officers from Delhi came to Rajkot and conducted a thorough questioning with the five who were in contact with Sakariya, including the autorickshaw driver who had sent Rs 2,000 to the accused through GPay. The team has left after questioning them,” he said.

However, according to sources, the police have detained the autorickshaw driver and are bringing him to Delhi for further investigation into this case.

During the inquiry in Rajkot, the officers found that Sakaria travelled to Delhi through Ujjain on Tuesday to participate in a protest against the SC ruling on stray dogs.

The accused’s mother, Bhanuben, who also vouched for his love for stray dogs, said he was upset over the recent Supreme Court order about strays in Delhi.

Following his arrest by the Delhi Police, it was revealed that, prior to this matter, he was booked in five cases between 2017 and 2024 at Bhaktinagar police station (in Rajkot), mostly for cases related to assault and possession of liquor.

While two FIRs were related to assault and criminal intimidation, three others were for the alleged possession and transportation of liquor, Bangarva said.