Delhi's Patiala House Court has sent Hindu Sena's Delhi Chief Lalit Kumar to one day police custody, a day after members of the outfit allegedly vandalised the official residence of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi.
The police sought for one day police custody for the 'purpose of recovery of weapon of offence, ie, the axe and to unearth the overall conspiracy', the court order with The Quint reads. The other four who had been detained have been sent to 14-day judicial custody.
The Delhi Court's metropolitan magistrate Amardeep Kaur said on Wednesday, 22 September, "In view of the facts and circumstances of the present case, I feel police custody of one day is sufficient," news agency ANI reported.
The incident took place on Tuesday evening at Owaisi's official residence in New Delhi's Ashoka Road.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Deepak Yadav said five people were arrested for their alleged involvement in the incident. They are reported to be from the Mandoli area in East Delhi.
Owaisi was not at the residence when the attack took place.
The men are alleged to have assaulted Owaisi's aide Raju, who has been working with the family for over three decades.
"This is happening in the heart of Delhi, near high-profile places like the Election Commission, Jantar Mantar and Parliament Street Police Station. This shows the impunity with which these radicalised people are operating," Owaisi said, speaking to The Quint.
"These forces have been emboldened by the government," he added.
He also said that the same Ashoka Road residence had been targeted on an earlier occasion in 2015.
Owaisi later put out a series of tweets regarding the incident.
Later a video of the vandalism also surfaced online. It was shared on Twitter by journalist Asad Ashraf.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)