Calling Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s arrest an “unannounced emergency”, AAP leaders Monday alleged it had been done to divert attention from the “Centre’s scams”. Sisodia was arrested on Sunday by the CBI, which is probing alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped excise policy. In a tweet, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said: “I am told most CBI officers were against Manish’s arrest. All of them have huge respect for him and there is no evidence against him. But the political pressure to arrest him was so high that they had to obey their political masters.” Carrying placards and wearing handcuffs and black bands, more than 200 protesters, including senior leaders such as MP Sanjay Singh, MLAs Saurabh Bharadwaj and Atishi, and Cabinet Minister Gopal Rai, began a protest march to the BJP’s DDU Marg office. Singh said: “You are trying to scare us with cases? We were born from the womb of an agitation.” Pointing to the recent Hindenburg report on Adani companies, he said: “What is the timing of this action? When there was a demand for a JPC (joint parliamentary committee) to probe Adani, they wanted to divert attention. We are not scared of Adani’s servants.” Several party workers clashed with security personnel and were taken away in police buses. Party workers then held a sit-in outside the AAP headquarters, not far from the BJP HQ, with AAP leaders alleging police had barged inside and detained several protesters. Addressing workers from inside the AAP headquarters, Bharadwaj, the chief spokesperson, said the protest will continue till Sisodia comes out of jail. “The BJP blocked our vehicles multiple times on the way and detained our party workers from their homes,” he claimed. Kalkaji MLA Atishi said, “Police personnel openly entered the party office. What kind of dictatorship is this? What kind of society are we living in where people cannot protest?” Police said 42 protesters, including five MLAs, were detained while marching to the BJP office. DCP (Central) Sanjay Kumar Sain said they were released in the evening. A senior police officer said minimum force was used to disperse protesters and no party worker sustained injuries. Riot control vehicles were also deployed to prevent any escalation. Meanwhile, Section 144 was imposed throughout the stretch around the BJP headquarters. Traffic around the area was hit for several hours due to the protest as vehicular movement was shut at the ITO intersection. The Delhi Traffic Police in a tweet stated, “Traffic will remain affected on DDU Marg in the carriageway from Minto Road towards ITO and vice-versa due to special traffic arrangements. Commuters are advised to avoid this stretch.” Police had Sunday detained 50 protesters near CGO Complex at Lodhi Road, of which 14 were released on Sunday while 36 were released Monday.
