Seven Congress workers were detained after they staged a 'rail roko' protest at Borivali station on Wednesday against Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Sonia Gandhi appeared before the ED in Delhi on Wednesday for the third round of questioning in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper. The protesters shouted slogans against the Enforcement Directorate and the Narendra Modi-led central government.
"A group of Mumbai Youth Congress workers suddenly jumped on the railway track and stopped a Gujarat-bound express train around 10 am on platform no 6 of the Borivali station," said an official of government railway police. RPF has registered a case under sections 174(A), 145(B) of the Railway Act against all 7 persons and further investigation is on.
"The Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel removed the protesters from the tracks within a few minutes and the train departed for its onward journey," said a railway official adding that seven protesters were detained by GRP, but later released after completing the legal procedure.
According to the Western Railway spokesperson, "The agitation did not affect train services as the GRP and RPF removed the protesters from tracks within a few minutes and detained them.
On July 27th at about 10 am 7 Congress party workers all of sudden without any intimation reached the North end of platform number six at Borivali station at the time of arrival of train number 19015 Saurashtra Mail and tried to detain the train in protest. RPF in charge Borivli along with RPF and GRP staff were alert and responded immediately, GRP detained protestors till 12.40 noon under Maharashtra Police Act."
A Western Railway spokesperson said the agitation, which was staged for a few minutes, did not affect train services as the GRP removed the protesters from tracks and detained them.
"At Borivali, around four to five persons gathered in front of train number 19215 down for two to three minutes . RPF in-charge Dinesh Sharma rounded them up and cleaned the track , no detaintion of train," the spokesperson said.
Sonia Gandhi (75) has been questioned for over eight hours till now by the ED and she has faced 65-70 questions.
The questioning pertains to the charge of alleged financial irregularities in the Congress-promoted Young Indian Private Limited, which owns the National Herald newspaper.The Congress has slammed the ED's action against its top leadership and termed it as "political vendetta" and "harassment".
BJP leaders responds to ongoing protests
Union Minister Anurag Thakur commenting on the issue said, "If they haven't done any corruption then why fear? Incidents of rape, murder are being reported from Congress-ruled states, but their CMs are camping in Delhi instead of maintaining law & order in their respective states."
Meanwhile, BJP President JP Nadda said, "Congress protests not 'Satyagrah', but an attempt to hide the truth. They are protesting to protect a family, not the country. Gandhis required to answer the investigation agencies, but they think they are above the law."
