The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) staged a protest against the arrest of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the Delhi excise policy case amid tight security, which led to massive traffic jams in surrounding areas. The party has also observed Monday as a black day.
The AAP leaders have claimed that massive protests were held across various districts of Delhi, Punjab, UP, Haryana, Maharashtra, Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Mizoram, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Bihar and Odisha against Sisodia’s arrest. Delhi Police erected barricades on several roads leading to DDU Marg where both, the BJP headquarters (HQ) and the AAP’s office, are located.
As the protesters led by senior AAP leaders Saurabh Bhardwaj and Atishi tried to march towards the BJP HQ police stopped them by deploying personnel and erecting barricades. However, when they tried to jump over the barricades, police swung into action and detained several of them, officials said.
While pushing protesters back, some police personnel briefly entered the AAP’s office, said party leaders who also raised slogans against the cops. AAP leaders, including Bhardwaj and MLA Rituraj Jha, were seen wearing handcuffs to register their protest.
They were also seen carrying AAP flags and placards that read "We salute Manish Sisodia". They also raised slogans like "Ladenge jeetenge, Manish Sisodia zindabad (Will fight and win, long live Manish Sisodia).” After the protesters were not allowed to move from the AAP’s office, several of them sat on the road, but were removed by the police.
An AAP functionary said that all MLAs have been asked to bring 200 people from their respective constituencies for the protest.
"This is the height of the BJP's dictatorship. They are now barging into our party office and trying to detain our leaders," party leaders Adil Ahmad Khan and Atishi said, addressing the crowd.
As the AAP workers started gathering at the party office at around 12 PM, police told them that Section 144 of the CrPC was in place in the area and no one was allowed to hold a protest. The police also confiscated the loudspeaker used by the AAP leaders. DCP Sanjay Sain asked protesters to leave the premises as they would start detention.
However, AAP workers continued the protest. Later, scores of AAP workers and leaders were detained and taken to a police station in north district in around 10 buses.
"Every day false cases are being filed against our leaders. If they are not finding evidence, they are putting people in jails," said Bhardwaj. Meanwhile, traffic was affected near the ITO intersection here on Monday as DDU Marg was closed for vehicular movement in view of the protest. The Delhi Police informed the commuters about it through its official Twitter handle.
"Traffic will remain affected on DDU Marg in the carriageway from Minto Road towards ITO and vice-versa due to special traffic arrangements. Commuters are advised to avoid this stretch," it tweeted. Commuters also took to Twitter complaining about traffic issues. One of them said there was very heavy traffic on Vikas Marg.
