Man behind Delhi Metro graffiti targeting CM Arvind Kejriwal arrested from Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly

New Delhi, May 22

The Delhi Police on Wednesday arrested a 33-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly for allegedly drawing anti-Arvind Kejriwal graffiti at stations of Delhi Metro and inside its coaches, an officer said.

The person who wrote the messages and posted the photographs on his Instagram account has been identified as Ankit Goel, the officer said.

On Monday, several pictures of the graffiti targeting the Delhi Chief Minister went viral on social media, eliciting a sharp condemnation from the Aam Aadmi Party.

Soon after, a CCTV video of the act also surfaced online, showing a man writing on the wall of a Metro station.

Goel, who is a loan manager at a government bank in Bareilly, came to Delhi, wrote the messages and returned to his city, the officer said.

Goel told police he was earlier an AAP supporter, but he became disaffected due to the “recent developments” in the party, the officer said.

The messages scribbled inside Metro trains and at stations were shared through the Instagram account “ankit.goel_91”.

One of the messages written inside a Metro coach read, “Kejriwal Dilli Chhor Dijiye (Kejriwal, leave Delhi). Please. Otherwise, you will have to remember three slaps, which you planted (sic) before the election. Now the real and actual punch/slap will be there soon. Today’s meeting at Jhandewalan…. Ankit.Goel_91.”