Delhi police detains several AAP leaders protesting against CBI summons to Kejriwal

Meanwhile, AAP Delhi convener Gopal Rai held a press conference here, claiming that around 1,500 people have been detained by police while several MLAs and councilors have been "arrested" across the national capital for staging protests against the CBI summons to the chief minister.

New Delhi: Several Aam Aadmi Party leaders including Raghav Chadha, Sanjay Singh and others were detained by the Delhi Police while they were protesting against the CBI for summoning Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for interrogation in connection with the excise policy case on Sunday. Several top AAP ministers and leaders including Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Delhi ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj, Atishi and Kailash Gahlot, and Rajya Sabha MPs Sandeep Pathak, gathered near the federal agency's headquarters and raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Kejriwal's questioning was underway.

Prior to his inquiry, Kejriwal on Sunday said that the central agency is bound to arrest him since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has seemingly given the orders. In a video message released on Sunday morning, Kejriwal said, "They (CBI) have called me today and I will definitely go. They are very powerful, they can send anyone to jail. If BJP has ordered CBI to arrest me, then CBI will obviously follow their instructions."

Earlier during the protests, Raghav Chadha called Kejriwal 'Lord Krishna' and the BJP as the epic antagonist 'Kansa'. "Kansa knew that Lord Shri Krishna would finish him and, hence, made every effort and hatched many conspiracies to inflict harm on Shri Krishna. He could not even harm a hair on his head. Similarly, today the BJP knows that the AAP will bring their downfall," Chadha said. He also alleged that the BJP government suffers from 'Kejriwal phobia' and therefore keeps targeting the Delhi CM repeatedly.

Meanwhile, AAP Delhi convener Gopal Rai held a press conference here earlier, claiming that around 1,500 people have been detained by police while several MLAs and councillors have been "arrested" across the national capital for staging protests against the CBI summons to the chief minister. "The central government is conspiring to arrest Kejriwal. Several people even took to the streets and protested against the CBI across the city. Heavy security was deployed and many people who came out in support of Arvind Kejriwal were detained," he said.

"Around 1,500 people have been detained or arrested by police across Delhi for staging protests. Thirty-two Delhi MLAs and 70 councillors have been arrested in the city and 20 Punjab AAP MLAs have been arrested at the Delhi border," Rai claimed. "Leaders including Sanjeev Jha, Kuldeep Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Jarnail Singh, Rituraj Jha, Naresh Yadav, Gulab Singh Yadav, Somnath Bharti, Girish Soni, Amanatullah Khan and Shiv Charan Goel were arrested in Delhi," he added.

Several party leaders and workers had gathered at the MP road in Mehrauli, under the IIT flyover, and near ITO as well, leading to traffic disruption. A large number of security personnel was also deployed across the city and barricades were put up at various locations. AAP leaders, including Mehrauli MLA Naresh Yadav, Chhatarpur MLA Kartar Singh Tanwar, Bijwasan MLA Bhupinder Singh Joon and Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan, were detained by police during their protest.

Party MLA Somnath Bharti, who was leading a protest under the IIT flyover, alleged that the Centre was "misusing the CBI" and "trying to scare" a leader who has worked for the development of the country. "They (Centre) can do anything and can get anyone arrested. They have destroyed democracy and misused their powers. This is the first time that the CBI has summoned a chief minister for questioning. They don't have a speck of evidence against our leaders. The Centre is misusing the CBI and trying to scare the leader who has always worked for the development of the country," he alleged.

AAP spokesperson Reena Gupta said party leaders and workers were staging peaceful protests across the city and that massive security has been deployed at various locations to detain the protesters. "Most of our workers who are trying to stage protests are being detained by the police personnel deployed everywhere in the city," Gupta said. Heavy traffic snarls were witnessed in several parts of the national capital on Sunday following the protests by the AAP workers.

Over 1,000 security personnel, including from paramilitary forces, have been deployed outside the CBI headquarters and section 144 of the CrPC has also been imposed in the area to ensure no gathering of more than four persons takes place, police officials said. (With Agency Inputs)