Manish Sisodia arrested: Minister to be brought to court; AAP plans massive protest

Aam Aadmi Party has decided to take to the streets across the country against the arrest of Sisodia. AAP's national general secretary Sandeep Pathak said they will protest across the country.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation after eight hours of questioning in the now-scrapped excise policy case, will be produced before a special CBI court at Rouse Avenue on Monday. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has also decided to take to the streets across the country against the arrest of Sisodia. AAP's national general secretary Sandeep Pathak said they will protest across the country.

Delhi Police personnel escort Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia from Rajghat ahead of his questioning by CBI in the liquor policy case on Sunday, (PTI)

"The great Education Minister Manish Sisodia, who has shaped the future of lakhs of children of the country, has been arrested in a fake case. Against this, the Aam Aadmi Party will protest across the country tomorrow," Pathak tweeted.

The party will also stage protests at the Bharatiya Janata Party's headquarters at the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg in the national capital at around 12pm. The party is also likely to hold protests in Gujarat's Gandhinagar, Haryana's Rohtak, Noida, and other places, reports indicated.

Shortly before arriving at the CBI office for questioning, Sisodia had claimed that false cases were being lodged against leaders of the party as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “afraid” of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

“Conspiracies are being hatched by the CBI and ED and false cases being lodged against our party leaders because PM Narendra Modi is afraid of CM Arvind Kejriwal's rising popularity. As the AAP grows further, the BJP will continue to slap false cases on us. We are not afraid of the CBI, ED and their false cases,” Sisodia said.

An official in the CBI, however, denied the arrest was planned.

“During any interrogation, if an accused or suspect is not cooperative and there is enough documentary evidence and statements against the person, as is in this case against Sisodia, arrest is done for securing police custody so that further rigorous questioning can take place,” said the officer.

A second officer cited added, “There is sufficient evidence in the form of WhatsApp chats, call data records (CDR), emails, statements by key Delhi government officials including Sisodia’s secretary C Arvind, disclosures by wholesalers and retailers regarding crucial conspiracy meetings, hotel records, files of excise department and bank statements of several suspects to establish charges against him (Sisodia) and others."

Before reaching the CBI headquarters, Sisodia had paid a visit to Mahatma Gandhi's memorial Rajghat on Sunday.

Reacting to the development his deputy, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the arrest as “dirty politics” and claimed that he is innocent.

“Manish is innocent. His arrest is dirty politics. There is a lot of anger among the people due to the arrest of Manish,” Kejriwal tweeted.

“Everyone is watching. People are understanding everything. People will respond to this. This will boost our spirits further. Our struggle will get stronger,” he added in the tweet (roughly translated from Hindi).