BJP MLA O P Sharma was arrested on Thursday after eight hours of interrogation over assaulting a CPI activist outside the Patiala House Courts on Monday. He was, however immediately, granted bail and released from Tilak Marg police station.

Immediately after his release, Sharma claimed he was a “victim of media trial”. “A media trial was going on until now. Judges sat in TV studios and passed judgements,” said Sharma.

He said it was “shameful” that action was being taken against someone who dared to stop people from raising anti-national slogans. Any visible action against the MLA had come only after much hue and cry over the police allegedly going slow against the BJP leader despite clear video clips of him apparently brutally assaulting CPI activist Ameeque Jamai.

Delhi Police Commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi on Wednesday had said that Sharma had been issued summons to appear before the police for questioning. Sharma had apparently failed to make it on Wednesday upon which another summon was sent.

 He arrived at Tilak Marg police station at 11 am and was allowed to leave only around 7.15 pm. “I was detained for almost eight hours,” he said.

Investigators said Sharma was questioned about the circumstances which led him to assault Jamai. He was shown video recordings of the incident to corroborate his claims with what was caught on camera.