Following a huge protest by the Congress on the streets of Delhi, in violation of the Delhi Police issuing an order imposing Section 144 in the city, party leader Rahul Gandhi reached the office of Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday for questioning in the National Herald money laundering case.
The Congress party has been holding demonstrations against the alleged misuse of probe agencies by the BJP-led central government.
Earlier in the day, the Delhi Police detained Congress workers as they protested outside the AICC headquarters in support of Rahul Gandhi.
Almost the entire top leadership of the Congress, the party’s two Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel and its Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs staged a protest holding placards and shouting slogans from the AICC headquarters to the ED office.
Top Congress leaders detained
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said he has been arrested by Delhi Police while marching towards Enforcement Directorate office in Delhi.
Gehlot added that the Delhi Police took other Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Jairam Ramesh, Mukul Wasnik, Digvijaya Singh, Deependra Hooda, Pawan Khera, P L Poonia, Gaurav Gogoi, and Meenakshi Natarajan to Central Delhi in a bus.
A video was tweeted by the Congress's Pawar Khera who claimed that Delhi's prisons were “full”.
“We are being taken to Fatehpur Beri. We won't give up,” Khera said, saying that Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, were among the leaders along with him in the bus.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that the rally won’t be canceled. He alleged that more than a thousand workers had been detained since Sunday night.
"We're the protectors of the Constitution, we will not bow down or get scared. By deploying a large police force, it has been proven that the Modi government is shaken by the Congress,” Surjewala said on the show of strength.
The Congress has been accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of using central agencies to silence the Opposition. The party has said the allegations against its leaders are "fake and baseless" and accused the BJP of "vendetta politics".
A money-laundering case - linked with the National Herald-Associated Journals Ltd - was recently filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The National Herald - founded by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru - is published by Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and owned by Young Indian Pvt Limited. Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are among the promoters and shareholders of Young Indian.
Meanwhile, it was reported the the Central Reserve Police Force's Rapid Action Force has been deployed close to the ED office after the protestors were all taken away in police buses.
The Rapid Action Force (RAF) is a specialised wing of the Central Reserve Police Force of India to deal with riot and crowd control situations. They have likely been deployed by the Centre in anticipation of protests turning violent.
