Delhi CM attacker has 9 prior cases in Rajkot; family cites mental health, anger over stray dogs

The man who attacked Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta during her public hearing on August 20 has a long brush with the law. Identified as 36-year-old Rajesh Khimji Sakriya from Rajkot, Gujarat, he has nine criminal cases registered against him between 2017 and 2022, mostly for drunken misconduct, assault, and criminal intimidation.

Sakriya’s mother, Bhanu, described him as a “dog lover” with untreated mental health issues, claiming he was distressed by a recent Supreme Court order directing authorities in Delhi to remove stray dogs from the streets and shift them to shelters. “He told his father he had gone to Delhi for the dogs,” she said, adding that his anger over the ruling had turned violent at home too.

Delhi Police detained Sakriya moments after he hurled a stone and allegedly slapped the Chief Minister. Rajkot police later confirmed his history of run-ins with the law, with repeated bookings under preventive detention and for public disorder.

“He has no relatives in jail, so there is no other motive. As per his mother, he appears to be an animal lover who got disturbed by the Supreme Court judgement,” said Rajkot DCP Jagdish Bangarwa.

A rickshaw driver by profession, Sakriya lives with his parents and brother in Rajkot. His family acknowledged his violent streak, with his mother admitting, “He has hit me and his wife as well. He has mental problems but has never taken medication.”

Police records show Sakriya’s first case in 2017 for abetment to causing hurt, followed by multiple arrests for drunken misconduct in 2020 and 2022, and a case of criminal intimidation in 2021.

The latest assault, however, has brought him into the national spotlight, raising concerns over lapses in security around the Chief Minister and the intersection of mental health, criminal history, and political violence.