Will share details with African countries: MEA on South Delhi raid

New Delhi: Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said it was in touch with the “concerned” authorities to get details of last week’s midnight raid allegedly led by Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti which it termed was “condemnable” even as a second African woman filed a plea in a court seeking registration of FIR in the case. [caption id=“attachment_1355937” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Delhi Law Minister Somnath Bharti. Facebook image[/caption] “It is a matter of concern and the government is committed to share the details of the case with Uganda and other African countries,” the Spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry said. The MEA had called all African envoys for a meeting last week to assure them about government’s intention to take appropriate action regarding the “condemnable” incident of Thursday evening involving some Ugandan nationals in Delhi. The Delhi law minister was involved in a row with the police last week when they refused to raid a suspected drug and prostitution racket following which he allegedly led his supporters in forcing the women to give urine samples. Dinkar Khullar, Secretary (West) in the MEA, had assured the African envoys that there was no deliberate targeting of the nationals of any country and should remain an aberration. Noting that the African envoys also expressed concern over “tendencies” as was being reported in the matter, the Spokesperson said the government immediately also assuaged the concerns regarding “racial overtones”. According to official sources, India also actively supports African initiatives for peace and security on the continent. In the pursuit of this commitment, more than 6,500 Indian soldiers support UN Peacekeeping Operations in various parts of Africa. More than a 100 Indian soldiers have laid down their lives in the cause of ensuring peace and stability in several international peace keeping operations in Africa. A city court today directed police to file a report on the raid after a second African woman filed a plea seeking registration of FIR. Delhi police has already registered a case on January 19 against unknown persons on the first plea. Three foreign women have till date recorded their statements before a magistrate, in which they have stated that Bharti, the MLA from Malviya Nagar, had barged into their house along with his supporters on the intervening night of January 15-16, according to court sources. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been facing mounting demands for removal of Bharti with rival parties and women’s activists terming his conduct “shocking” and “unacceptable”. PTI