The Aam Admi Party on Tuesday lodged a strong protest against the arrest of Delhi Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar on charges of cheating and fraud in obtaining his law degree.
The party launched a scathing attack on the Centre calling the arrest a political vendetta. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said emergency like situation prevailed in Delhi while asking if Tomar was a terrorist to be arrested.
"Has he set off a bomb in Delhi to be arrested?" he asked.
Reports suggest that the minister was arrested without any prior notice.
The party also termed the arrest as an "illegal and unconstitutional" action against a duly elected MLA and a minister.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh accused the Centre of using "pressure tactics" against the Delhi government.
The arrest of 49-year-old Tomar, MLA from Trinagar and a first time minister, comes in the midst of a running battle between the AAP government and Lt Governor Najeeb Jung over the powers of the city government, giving it a new political twist.
"The Lt Governor, Delhi Police Commissioner and the Modi government are trying to scare us with such tactics. But we are not going to be scared. Our fight against corruption will continue," Singh said.
AAP is reportedly planning high-scale protests across the city. Hauz Khas police station in south Delhi, where an FIR was filed against the minister last night, was heavily barricaded and a large contingent of police deployed there.
AAP's Delhi convenor Ashutosh said that the arrest was a conspiracy hatched in the Union Home Ministry on the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Meanwhile, Congress and BJP demanded the immediate resignation of Tomar.
(With inputs from agencies)