AAP protests against arrest of Manish Sisodia by CBI

Scores of Aam Aadmi Party workers on Saturday protested against the arrest of senior party leader Manish Sisodia by the CBI in connection with the excise policy case.The protest erupted before Sisodia was to be produced at the Rouse Avenue court here, a few metres away from the AAPs office.The party workers wanted to protest outside the BJP headquarters but Delhi Police erected barricades to prevent them from marching towards the place.

Scores of Aam Aadmi Party workers on Saturday protested against the arrest of senior party leader Manish Sisodia by the CBI in connection with the excise policy case.

The protest erupted before Sisodia was to be produced at the Rouse Avenue court here, a few metres away from the AAP's office.

The party workers wanted to protest outside the BJP headquarters but Delhi Police erected barricades to prevent them from marching towards the place. The protesters then continued their demonstration and sat on the road and carried placards reading messages such as "Modi Jab Jab Darta Hai, Police ko Aage Karta Hai" and "Manish Sisodia Tujhe Salaam".

AAP senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said the party's struggle against the central government will continue in the courts, streets, and Parliament, saying the ''dictatorship of the Narendra Modi government has reached its peak".

Singh alleged that the Modi government's actions show that it wants to keep India uneducated.

The two most capable ministers in the country, who transformed the health and education sectors in Delhi, are currently under arrest because of the Modi government, he said.

Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the AAP leader said, "Each citizen and AAP worker can see through your evil designs now. No matter what you do, the Aam Aadmi Party's work will continue, the people of Delhi will not be deterred, our caravan will not be halted, and Shri Arvind Kejriwal's popularity will never wane." AAP's chief spokesperson and MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the CBI of working directly at the instructions of the central government and not as an independent federal agency.

This clearly is a case of abuse of laws and the CBI's intention is evident, he said.

He also claimed that the CBI is aware that Sisodia will eventually be proven innocent since there is no evidence against him, "but the central government would consider it a victory if they could keep Manish Sisodia in jail for as long as possible through an unfair process".

A Delhi court on Saturday extended by two days the CBI custody of Sisodia, the former deputy chief minister, arrested in a corruption case related to the now-scrapped excise policy, to confront him with material witnesses.

Bharadwaj clarified that the AAP activists did not gather to protest the court order but rather as a show of support for their leader.

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