NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday staged a massive protest outside the headquarters of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as their leader Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was questioned by the CBI for nearly 10 hours in connection with the Delhi excise policy corruption case.
Sisodia was summoned by the CBI and asked to appear before it on Monday, however, the AAP leader, wearing a mustard-coloured scarf, left his residence two hours before the scheduled time along with hundreds of his supporters.
The party members came out in support and accompanied Sisodia till the CBI office. Holding the tricolour, Sisodia addressed his supporters and said, “The BJP wants to put me in jail, but I want to tell you that we are the followers of Bhagat Singh, we are not scared of prisons.....I’m not afraid of the CBI or ED..If I get arrested, I won’t repent and take pride in it. It is a matter of pride that I have been given a chance to sacrifice for the nation.”
Several party functionaries including Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh staged protest outside the CBI headquarters. The party leaders Sanjay Singh, MLA Durgesh Pathak were among 119 AAP members detained for alleged violation of prohibitory orders during the protest. Police personnel were seen carrying Singh and others by their arms and legs as the protesters squatted on the road. The MP later alleged that they were manhandled.
“A total of 16 AAP MLAs and one MP Sanjay Singh were detained under section 65 of the Delhi Police Act. All the women protesters were allowed to go before sunset while the others were detained till night due to prevailing situation,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (south) Chandan Chowdhary said. While 90 were detained and kept at Fatehpur Beri police station, 29 others were held at Maidangarhi police station, the police officer said.
The senior official said the police will register a case against the party workers for violating the prohibitory orders under section 144. Section 144 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure prohibits the assembly of four or more people. Sisodia, after being grilled for 9 hours, spoke to the media and said the Central Bureau of Investigation registered the case against him not for any corruption but for the success of ‘Operation Lotus’ in the national capital.
“This is case is all about Operation Lotus. Today I got to know how the BJP is misusing the CBI, in completely unconstitutional ways, to put pressure on us,” the AAP leader said. He claimed that he was pressured to leave Aam Aadmi Party and was offered Delhi Chief Minister’s post. “BJP says there is a Rs 10,00 crore excise scam. I found at CBI office that there is no scam and the case is fake. The fake case against me is a conspiracy to make BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’ a success in the national capital,” said Sisodia.
AAP is the biggest corrupt party: BJP
NEW DELHI: The BJP on Monday dubbed the AAP as the “biggest corrupt party” after Deputy CM Manish Sisodia appeared for questioning before the CBI. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the AAP was formed to fight corruption but it turned out to be the “biggest corrupt party”. “AAP is a biggest gimmick party. It was formed to fight corruption and its leaders turned out to be be diehard corrupt,” Patra charged.