Congress 'Satyagrah' march: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleges manhandling by Delhi Police personnel

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury who was detained by the Delhi Police on Monday during the 'Satyagrah' march in support of party leader Rahul Gandhi alleged manhandling by police personnel on the way to Enforcement Directorate (ED) office.

Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury who was detained by the Delhi Police on Monday during the 'Satyagrah' march in support of party leader Rahul Gandhi alleged manhandling by police personnel on the way to Enforcement Directorate (ED) office. Chowdhury wrote a letter to SHO Tughlaq Road alleging manhandling by Delhi Police personnel and asked to take action against them.

"This is to intimate you that today I have been badly manhandled by the Delhi Police on the way to the ED office without even an iota of provocation. During the phase of police atrocities, I got an injury in the upper jaw of my mouth. May I request you to treat my letter as an allegation against those police personnel and do the needful," he said in a letter. Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met party leaders who were detained during the party's 'Satyagrah' march at Tughlaq Road Police Station.

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, along with other top Congress party colleagues Adhir Ranjan Chaudhari and KC Venugopal were among those detained as party leader Rahul Gandhi arrived at the Enforcement Directorate office here today for questioning in the National Herald money laundering case. Delhi Police on Monday detained Congress workers including Adhir Ranjan Chaudhari, KC Venugopal, Deepender Hooda and Jairam Ramesh among other MPs who joined a huge protest by Congress workers who shouted slogans against the central government.

According to sources, Venugopal's health is not well and he was taken to the Tughlaq Road police station. Deepender Hooda, Gehlot and other Congress leaders were detained and they were taken to Fatehpur police station in buses.

Congress leaders Rajni Patil, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, L Hanumanthaiah and Su Thirunavukkarasar were detained at Mandir Marg Police Station. Soon after they were detained, Rajya Sabha MPs Rajni Patil and L Hanumanthaiah said they will move a privilege motion in both Houses of Parliament against their undemocratic detention.

Several Congress workers are protesting at various points near party headquarters. On Sunday Delhi Police had cited a "law and order situation" denied permission to the Congress protest march and had imposed prohibitory orders near the Congress headquarters.

Notably, Rahul Gandhi appeared before the ED. Earlier today, Congress workers staged a protest holding placards and amidst massive sloganeering in support of Rahul Gandhi. 'Rahul Gandhi zindabad, zindabad' song resonated at Congress party headquarters here.

Addressing media persons earlier this morning Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that the party's 'Satyagraha' march will continue despite the Delhi Police denying permission to the party to hold protests. Slamming the Centre for denying permission to Congress to hold its "Satyagraha march" in the national capital, party general secretary Randeep Surjewala addressing media persons said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has imposed an "undeclared emergency" in the entire central Delhi area.

"We will hold a peaceful protest march to the ED office under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. We are the protectors of the Constitution, we will not bow down or be scared. By deploying a large police force, it has been proven that the Modi government is shaken by Congress." Rahul Gandhi was summoned by the ED to join the investigation on June 13. He was earlier summoned to join the investigation but he was out of the country and later he was given a fresh date of June 13 to join the probe.

On Friday the ED also issued a fresh summons to Sonia Gandhi asking her to appear on June 23 for questioning in connection with the National Herald money laundering case. Congress has alleged that it is a "political vendetta" and the case has no grounds for investigation.

The ED has earlier questioned senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress Treasurer Pawan Bansal in April this year as part of its investigation. The agency then recorded the statements of both the Congress leaders under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The National Herald is published by Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and owned by Young Indian Private Limited (YIL). While Kharge is the CEO of YIL, Bansal is the Managing Director of AJL.

The ED is currently investigating the shareholding pattern and financial transactions as well as the role of party functionaries in the functioning of the AJL and YIL. The YIL promoters include Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)