04 April,2014 01:06 PM IST | | A Correspondent
Aam Aadmi Party supporters pounced on the 19-yr-old attacker and roughed him up before he was taken to a nearby police station. The incident happened in south Delhi's Dakshinpuri area
New Delhi: A 19-year-old man twice punched AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal today while pretending to garland him as the latter campaigned for the Lok Sabha election in South Delhi..
"Saying he wanted to garland Kejriwal, the attacker got on to an open vehicle and punched him twice," an Aam Aadmi Party leader who witnessed the attack told IANS.
The attacker was identified as Abdul Wahid, a resident of Delhi's Jamia Nagar area, Deputy Commissioner of Police P. Karunakaran told IANS.
Kejriwal was with his party's South Delhi Lok Sabha candidate Devendra Sherawat and three legislators when the attack took place in south Delhi's Dakshinpuri area.
Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal. File pic
Aam Aadmi Party supporters pounced on the unknown attacker and roughed him up before he was taken to a nearby police station.
Kejriwal said later that he was punched while he was seeking votes for the AAP in south Delhi.
The former Delhi chief minister urged his supporters not to retaliate violently.
"We are fighting for truth and honesty... Let them (our critics) attack us. We should not hit back," he said.
This is not the first time the AAP leader has been targeted. During an election campaign in Varanasi last month, eggs were thrown at his car outside the Kashi Vishwanath temple, with protesters steadily raising anti-Kejriwal slogans and asking him to leave the Hindu holy city.
Later, as Kejriwal proceeded towards the rally ground in an open vehicle ringed by hundreds of supporters, ink was thrown at him.
The ink stained his face and clothes and also those of his party leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh.
