The mother of Rajesh Khimji, the man detained for allegedly attacking Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, claimed that he is an animal lover and "acted out
of his love for dogs" and appealed for forgiveness. CM Gupta was attacked during a 'Jan Sunwai' event at her camp office in Civil Lines earlier today. The incident comes days after Supreme Court's verdict on moving stray dogs from the Delhi-NCR to shelters. She claimed that his son acted out of his love for dogs. "My son did this out of his love for dogs. I appeal to the CM that we are poor people, my son should be forgiven..." accused's mother Bhanuben said, as quoted by ANI. The police have detained Sakriya Rajeshbhai Khimjibhai, a 41-year-old resident of Rajkot (Gujarat), who is being questioned. "He left home saying that he was going to Ujjain. He visits there at least once a month. I don't know when he went from Ujjain to Delhi. Yesterday, his father called him to ask when he was coming back. He told his father that he is in Delhi regarding the dogs. After saying this, he hung up the phone. He was agitated after he saw a video on social media showing dogs in Delhi being taken away. He did not eat after seeing those videos," she said. According to Bhanuben, Rajesh drives a rickshaw, and has a wife and son.
Meanwhile, the CCTV footage accessed by Times Now shows Rajesh surveying Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta's Shalimar Bagh residence on August 19, a day before the attack.
The video captures the accused conducting a recce of the premises, recording visuals of the chief minister's residence. In the footage, he is seen talking to someone over the phone during his visit.
BJP MLA Harish Khurana claimed that the attack on Rekha Gupta was "pre-planned" alleging that the attacker has clicked photos of her residence.
"A person attacked Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta during 'Jan Sunwai' today. Delhi Police has detained the accused and is questioning him," The Chief Minister's Office said in a statement.
