NEW DELHI: Markets wore a deserted look on Friday as a majority of shops downed their shutters to protest against the “wrongful” arrest of local AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan after a demonstration against an anti-encroachment drive.
The market lanes were empty throughout the day. Senior Advocate Ramesh Gupta represented the AAP MLA and submitted that the Delhi Police arrested the MLA despite him not done anything ‘illegal’. The court took serious note of the matter and pulled up the police for its inadequacies and granted bail to the MLA, said the AAP officials.
Gupta said, “The MLA has not done anything illegal and protested peacefully without any arms. The custody of Amantullah Khan is not required anymore in the present case and no useful purpose would be served by keeping him behind the bars.”
Municipal councillor Abdul Wajid Khan said all markets in the area are closed. “We are protesting against the arrest of Amanatullah Khan, and people have kept their shops closed in a show of solidarity,” he said. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will hold a key meeting with all AAP MLAs on Saturday on the anti-encroachment drives conducted by the BJP-ruled civic bodies and discuss strategy to counter the BJP’s politics over the anti-encroachment drives.