ED summons to Rahul Gandhi: Congress workers detained amid protests, released

Congress workers, who were protesting against the summoning of the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by ED in National Herald case, were stopped and many were detained by the police on their way to Punjab Raj Bhawan

Congress workers, who were protesting against the summoning of the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the National Herald case, were stopped and many were detained by the police on their way to the Punjab Raj Bhawan here on Thursday.

Congress workers protesting against the summoning of Rahul Gandhi by the ED, at Sector 35 in Chandigarh on Thursday. (Ravi Kumar/HT)

The protesters began their march from the Congress Bhawan, Sector 35-C, Chandigarh, to the Raj Bhawan to present a memorandum addressed to the President.

A Congress spokesperson said, “The memorandum requested the President to advise the Modi government to ensure that the security agencies work impartially and do not try to implicate leaders like Rahul Gandhi, who speak against the divisive, anti-people and anti-constitution policies of the current government at the Centre.”

The workers were stopped by the police at Sector 34-35 traffic lights.

“About 100 workers, including senior party functionaries, were detained by the police when they tried to sneak in through the police barricades. They were taken to the Sector 36 police station in buses,” said the spokesperson.

In the afternoon, Pawan Kumar Bansal, treasurer of the All-India Congress Committee, reached the police station to enquire about the detained Congress activists, who were released by the police later in the day.